Sabaidee - Part II

Luang Prabang


We were supposed to meet up with Kevin Bell on the 14th of January in Luang Prabang. We were very excited about him coming to meet us and already had planned the next two weeks we were going to travel together in North Laos. We arrived the day before in Luang Prabang to find us accommodation. We picked the Pakam guest house, a small place with only 6 very nice and clean rooms. The price was above of what we were usually paying for rooms but it was very quiet and comfortable there. The location was perfect.
On the next street there was a produce market every morning and we loved going there in the morning and looking at all the stuff they were selling there. From fruits and vegetables to all kinds of meat - raw and fried rats, buffalo legs and ears, bats, squirrels and worms. Yumm, yumm.
We also sampled local food there. My favorite - purplish sticky rice with coconut custard on top & fried onions and sweet corn.









































The day we were supposed to meet with Kevin, we went to Internet to do some errands. I checked our bank account and almost had a heart attack. For the past few weeks someone has been making withdrawals from our savings account and we had only a few thousand left. I was in total shock and couldn't talk. I kept thinking there must be a mistake. We immediately called the bank and they started an investigation. They told us to call back in a week...
Dealing with this issue we almost missed our meeting with Kevin. It was actually really nice that he had arrived at that time. It made us think about something else besides our bank problem. Hopefully everything would get resolved and we won't have to go back home too early :{
After talking to Kevin on our terrace for a while, it already felt so normal that he was there with us. We spent the next two days visiting and enjoying Luang Prabang.
It is a very nice city. We really, really liked it. It was the first time we found a city beautiful since we started traveling in Southeast Asia. Phnom Penh was kind of ugly. In Vientiane they don't seem to care about the conservation of the old architecture. Walking around, there were very nice colonial buildings but in front of them, they had built these ugly, concrete, garage-like shops. Very sad. Likely Luang Prabang is not like that. It is cute, small, green and very charming. The city is really beautiful probably because of the houses built by the French, but never mind that ;) It seems that every villa is converted into a hotel or a guest house. There are so many restaurants, cafes, gift shops, art galleries. Obviously tourism is the main source of income here and it is also very expensive. The prices have doubled or even tripled in the past few years. Even though it is super touristy, it still makes you want to stay for more than 3 days, or a week, or a month...


























The highlight of our walks through the city was the visit to the main temple Wat Xieng Thong. The temple is very richly decorated. Every surface has either paintings, or stencil, or mosaics, or wood carvings. So rich in texture and so colorful. The two or three surrounding halls look as if they have paintings on the exterior walls but it is actually mosaics. It is really stunning and nothing like we have seen before.

Every morning we would go to the produce market and every evening to the night market. A great place to shop and eat. Miko and Kevin bought "Beer Lao" t-shirts there (like everyone else... f.....g tourists), and Hana got a pair of earrings, a scarf, and a skirt :) The only thing we didn't enjoy there was the cold. It was freezing at night and in the morning. During the day it was nice and warm in the sun, but as soon as the sun went down it became cold. We had to layer all our clothes and sleep with a couple of blankets and a sleeping bag.




Speaking of blankets, we have a little story to tell here. Since we were freezing in our rooms on the first night, Miko asked this sweet little kid who was guarding the guest house that evening, for 3 more blankets. Well the kid was just about to eat his noodle soup but he jumped and ran outside to take care of our request. Then 10 minutes, sweet little kid came back running up the stairs, caring in his hand.... 3 BAGUETTES!!! The poor kid had ran who knows where at 9pm to get us 3 baguettes, when what we actually asked for was in a closet right next to him. We felt bad for interrupting him just when he was about to eat. But we couldn't stop ourselves from laughing at the surprise of seeing him holding 3 baguettes instead of 3 blankets.

Also while we were in Luang Prabang, we bumped into Daniel & Alice, a couple that we had originally met in Bikaner at the beginning of our trip in India. Then we saw them again in Phnom Penh in Cambodia 2 months later. And now again in Luang Prabang. Right after bumping into them in an cafe, we recognized another familiar face. A guy from Estonia that we met almost 3 months ago in Jaipur, India. Who's next?



Luang Nam Tha

After three days in Luang Prabang, we headed to Luang Nam Tha in the Northwest Laos. Luckily we found a minivan which was returning there and it was all for us. Three seats each if we wanted to. The best vehicle we traveled in for a while. But most of the road was in such a bad shape that we were constantly bouncing and jumping out of our seats. It brought back memories from our bus ride in Bundi, India.
It took 9 hours to do about 400 km! Still it was a beautiful ride. The landscape became more and more mountainous and green. We were passing villages built along the road with barely enough room for the houses. In front of the house was the road, and behind nothing but beautiful panorama. I wondered how many landslides happen here every year during the rainy season. Somehow it reminded me of our boat ride between Battambang and Siem Reap in Cambodia, passing the floating villages built on nothing but water along the main transportation artery. When we finally arrived in Luang Nam Tha, we were all feeling a little like those wobbly head dolls that people put on their dashboards.

The town of Luang Nam Tha is not very pretty. It is actually ugly. They also have the worst pancakes we have ever tried and it's also where I had my worst haircut experience. It was funny though. I love trying out different hairdresser shacks everywhere we go. I didn't try it in Thailand, but I did in India (the best so far), then Cambodia (very good also despite the shave without water or soap). I usually show them a photo from my ID to show them how I would like my hair and the beard to be trimmed and so far I came out with an excellent trim and super clean shave done mostly with scissors. So when I went to the "hair salon" in Luang Nam Tha and saw that they had trimmers I was pretty confident about the outcome. Plus the guy looked like he knew what he was doing. Catastrophe. I don't know how he misunderstood what I wanted after showing him the picture, but he trimmed my sideburns and then decided to shave my beard! When I realized what he had started doing on one side, I told him it was a mistake. He said OK, and was going to trim correctly the rest of my beard, leaving the hole he had made on the other side. Anyway, I came out with short side burns and a bad shave. I wasn't going to make a fuss for $1.25. It's all part of the game.

The next day we went on a 2 day trek in the Luang Nam Tha forest, visiting Akha people, a tribe that has moved to this area from China long time ago and has kept most of their customs and traditions until today. The trek was organized by Green Discovery and it's part of eco-tourism. We were told that 35% of the money goes to the village itself. They don't get more than 2 tourist visits per week and the idea is to not make them dependable on tourism.
We had a nice group of 8 people on the trek: 2 girls from Holland, Sam - Swiss-German doctor, Nick from Australia, Dave from the UK and the 3 of us, plus 2 local guides.

The trek was very nice, we all got along and everybody came back happy. The vegetation was beautiful. There were so many shades of green and different kinds of leaves. A beautiful forest. For our lunch picnic, the guides cut big banana tree leaves and used them as a table cloth. Then they dumped all the food on the leaves and we were all eating with our hands - Lao style: taking sticky rice and mixing it with vegetables and meats in every bite.
























The highlight of the trek was the visit to the Akha village where we were going to spend the night. The hut for the visitors is a bigger version of the Akha huts. Sleeping on some kind of wooden platform on one side, everybody lined up like sardines under mosquito nets. Cooking on the other side, above the fire pit in the middle.





The Akha people work hard, I mean hard, physical labor. Recently they got electricity in some huts, but everything is very primitive. Simple huts with dirt floors, covered with roofs made of some kind of layered, dried, bamboo leaves. Women walk around without their shirts after they get married. They have a lot of children and most of them are running around naked or half naked, dirty, with shaved heads.
The most interesting part is the "sex shack". Throughout the village there are tiny huts on stilts. When they are 14-16 years old boys & girls from the village live in these tiny huts until the girl gets pregnant and then they get married. And if they the boy does not want to stay with the girl, the boy's family has to give money to the girl's family. Nothing is arranged by the parents, the kids pick each other. The hut has room only for the mattress and on a little shelf, we saw a boom-box (batteries neatly aligned), beer Lao bottles, perfumes, hair gel, all the teenage stuff. Fascinating.



















That night, our village host prepared dinner for us: beef laap (traditional Lao dish - meat with chopped mint leaves and other herbs), a soup and two veggie dishes. We ate around a small table, while our host kept handing us glasses of lao-lao (kind of a Lao whiskey). We all drank from the same glass, one after another. That's how they do it here.
As we were finishing our delicious meal, young girls from the village (between 10-14 years old) started entering our hut and calling each one of us to go lay down in the sleeping area for a massage...? Soon, we were all laying side by side with young girls massaging us (if you can call it a massage). They were pressuring, squeezing and shaking our arms, legs and the back. Cracking our toes and fingers. The entire thing was not very gentle and they really had strong and rough hands. Probably from all the physical labor.
The massage was supposed to be the Akha people custom to welcome their guests. Ok, but they were still expecting a tip at the end. There was even a man from the village overlooking the whole operation from the background.
The atmosphere was euphoric and we could not stop laughing. The whole thing was weird and it felt so wrong. Kevin took a great picture of Nick, who was smiling behind one of the girls while she had a blank stare.

The only sad thing about this trek was to realize how much deforestation was going on in the area. So many hills completely shaved. This is done by the villagers who then plant the rubber trees to sell to China later. When I asked one of the employees at the Green Discovery what was up with the deforestation in an area which is supposed to be protected, he told me that the villagers were there before and it seems they have the right to do as they want. The government did not declare this area protected until maybe ten years ago or little more. What we saw of the forest was beautiful. I wonder how long it will last?

After Luang Nam Tha everything went really fast. Kevin was with us for a short time so we sped up the pace.

Our next destination was Nong Khiaw where we would go up the river to Mong Noi Neua, only accessible by boat. We ended up spending 2 nights in each place. Too short in my opinion to really get a feel for the place.

Even if Mong Noie Neua was more isolated than Nong Khiaw, it was touristier. And this tiny village is (sadly) starting to look more and more like a little country side resort. It is still somewhat authentic, but for how long. Like Don Det in the South, it has no electricity, just generators running from 6 to 10pm, or less. There are no cars or motorbikes. It is really quiet except for the freaking roosters who start whenever they feel like. Even in the middle of the night. There we enjoyed the beautiful scenery by the river and ventured a little in the surrounding country side visiting villages.
























Nong Khiaw (my favorite) is a place where tourists stop over for only night only to take the boat to Mong Gnoi Neua the next day. We noticed a lot of signs telling people to stay longer. That they were blinded by the tourist guide books which only talk about Mong Gnoi Neua as the place to go to.














For 3 hours we tried to catch fishes by throwing a round net in the river or by slamming the water with large bamboo sticks to scare the fish into a rectangular net with which we surrounded a specific area in the river. We came out with 11 small fishes all caught by our guide Deaume except for the 3 smallest fishes that I proudly clamed. Hana still had the style, while Kevin would mostly enjoy the beautiful surrounding because he did not want to wet his pants J Back on solid ground we spent the rest of the afternoon at Deaume’s little restaurant shack making a fish soup with our catch and preparing a delicious green papaya salad. Here is the receipt for the salad:

Shredded green papaya (add to the mixture at the end); One clove of garlic, one green chili (ground everything), 1 spoon of sugar and salt, some cherry tomatoes cut in half, 1 lime squeezed, 3-4 splashes of fish sauce

It was very nice to spend most of the day with local people and I wish we had done it more. We ended this wonderful day with Nick and Dave, who came to Nong Khiaw with us from Luang Nam Tha. We had Lao beers while watching the sunset by the river and then another traditional herbal sauna session.

It was very nice to spend more time with travelers we had met before. We meet a lot of nice and interesting people on the road with whom we have a lot in common, but because we all go different places, we only get to spend a few hours with them. This time we were all happy to hang out longer. We ended up traveling with Nick until we had to leave Laos. But Dave went to Luang Prabang before us and we did not get a chance to see him again.

There is more to explore in this part of North Laos, and we could have stayed in even more isolated villages up the river or further inland. But we were running out of time. It would have to be on our next trip to Laos.

After the two nights in Mong Gnoi Neua, we took the boat back to Nong Khiaw where we met up with Nick and got into another boat for a 7 hour beautiful ride down the Lam Na river back to Luang Prabang. Again the scenery was amazing. At some point, as I was listening to the soundtrack of “The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford”, I felt so relaxed, happy, totally absorbed like I was at the view point in Vang Vieng. Just the last hour and a half felt long. That’s when I realized that we made a good decision by choosing not to start with the north of Laos and a 2 day long boat trip from the Thai border to Luang Prabang. It would have been too long and uncomfortable, and too touristy.

The next morning Kevin left for San Francisco. It was great to travel with him for the two weeks (little too short) and it felt so normal to have him with us. We were very sad to see him leave…. But we got his room at the Pakham guest house J He was already talking about meeting us in Bolivia later. We hope he does. It was nice to be back in Luang Prabang and to spend our two last days in Laos relaxing, eating baguette sandwiches with Nick, and drinking Lao coffee in the morning at the market.

Then on January 28^th, we sad goodbye to Nick and sadly left Laos for Bangkok. We spent a couple days in Bangkok buying fake Diesel and pretty flowery rings for Hana, then off to our next destination: BALI.

Laos ended up being a really interesting place. It was nothing exciting or extreme, no crazy stories to tell here just many, many nice little moments. We have spent a month there and it went by so fast. We were not sure what to expect at first. A lot of people told us that we are going to love it, but after Cambodia we were not sure if Southeast Asia was our thing. This time, the entry in the country was great, but the motorcycle trip in the Bolaven Plateau, even if it was very nice, it was not unforgettable. As we headed north, it kept getting better and better and soon, without realizing it, the country had sucked us in. The very slow pace of Laos can be a little disconcerting. Hana liked it right away but personally I was not sure it would go well with my hyper active temper… Well, I was wrong. I felt like I was hypnotized and I liked it. I only wish we had met more locals to get a better sense of the culture. People were really nice but I felt that they were keeping distance with the foreigners. Or maybe it was the language barrier? We also did a lot in one month and probably too much.

Besides the Akha people (in the village we have visited) being so culturally different, the Laotians were not. At least not compared to the Indian culture. Men still have the power, but you’ll see women everywhere riding motorcycles, running businesses, working. In Muan Ngoi, this tiny village in the North Laos, I even saw three women sitting around a table on the main road, drinking Tiger beer. Not even Beer Lao. Women don’t smoke of course. But they wore tight jeans (sometimes even tights only) and shorts. You can see boys and girls walking to school together. And both men and women eat together (for the most part), and party & drink together. Sometimes you could see a woman riding a motorbike pregnant (big belly in front of her) with one or two kids on the bike behind her. Or a working mom, picking up her kids from school on a motorbike, one in front, and one behind her. No helmets of course. These images just became normal to us.

So, these are the highlights from our trip to Laos:

· Don Det (hammock time by the river)

· Herbal sauna (the best in Forest Temple in Vientiane)

· Buddha Park in Vientiane

· Caving in Vang Vieng (for Hana), the View Point (for Miko)

· Luang Prabang, a very beautiful city (Lao coffee and the morning market + Nick’s favorite food: baguette sandwich)

· Luang Nam Tha – trek to the Akha village

· Boat ride from Nong Khiaw to Luang Prabang

· Learning to fish Lao style and cooking the catch

· And Mr. Bell joining the travel team J :

here are is pictures and some of ours

http://www.flickr.com/gp/10393627@N07/043so9

Sabaidee - Part I

Our entry into Laos was the complete opposite of the one in Cambodia. Our first stop in Don Det (part of Four Thousand Islands in South Laos) set up the mood. It is very laid back and it was such a nice, warm welcome to Laos. It was so relaxing to stay there for 3 days, enjoying our hammocks on the deck of a bungalow.

Don Det was definitely one of the highlights of our trip in Laos. People in Laos are in no hurry. There is almost no hassle. Drivers on the street will ask you if you need a tuc-tuc or a boat but will let you go when you say no and will return to their nap or conversation immediately.

The funny thing was that I felt like we were still in Cambodia. The change from place to place is not drastic. The houses are very similar if not less charming than in Cambodia. The main difference I noticed is more in people's facial expressions. In Laos people don't smile as much as in Cambodia. They seem to be more difficult to read. But it goes very well with the somewhat lethargic pace of the country.
I like the way people say hello in Laos - Sabaidee. And in Don Det they kind of stretch the ending even more, making it into a melody - Sabaideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Don Det

It was a whole day trip from Kratie in Cambodia to Don Det. We changed three minivans and had to take a boat. The entire journey was slow, not big distances but a lot of waiting in between. It cost only $5. I was anticipating the border crossing (too many bad memories) but it went ok. We just had to pay $1 on the Cambodian side so they would let us go and $1 on the Lao side to let us in. Baksheesh for the border officers.

Don Det is popular among travelers as a party island and lot of young backpackers go there. It was the day before New Years when we arrived and we did not mind being in a more "happening" place. Still, we wanted a more quiet place to stay in and started looking around. The first people that talked to us was a nice couple of old hippies who told us immediately about a nice bungalows down the road called "Paradise". We liked their description and headed there.

The place is not listed in Lonely Planet and sometimes that is a very good thing. The bungalow we took was very simple, one room with one very hard bed, a mosquito net, and the best part - the deck with 2 hammocks overlooking the Mekong river. That's the key to good time in Don Det. I installed myself immediately in one of the hammocks. The river running below, few long-tail boats here and there, trees everywhere, it was so peaceful.

The "Paradise" is run by a really friendly Lao family and the way it is set up made us feel as if we were part of it. At least a little. From the open restaurant area where we took most of our meals, we could see all the drama and daily activities happening. One of the kids, Bong, has a Down syndrome. He is 16 years old and looks like 12. But his behaviour and interest toward the female guests definitely reflects his age. He had a unique way of "scratching" himself between his legs sometimes :) He still was a really nice kid. Very affectionate with his little nephew.

The food at "Paradise" was delicious home made and very cheap. We had some yummy pumpkin soup, and lentil pumpkin curry, and even pumpkin burger. And in the restaurant area we met the other guests staying there. Angy, a girl from Chicago, was our next door neighbor. She has been traveling for six months in India, followed by a one year in Africa. She is very brave in my eyes. It was interesting to talk to her and hear about her adventures. Very good energy.

The chatty, older hippie couple was there also - Lance and Donna. They left the US a while ago and live in Germany now. They are musicians and have gigs in bars during the summer and the winters they spend in Laos, mostly in Don Det with the "Paradise" family.

One thing about Don Det, which you quickly forget about, is that there is no electricity. They have generators which run only from 6-10pm. It gets dark s also, including me :)
early in the winter, soon after 6pm, and all the locals are in bed by 9pm and some of the tourist
There is not much to do in Don Det except to relax. On our first day we rented bicycles and explored both small islands Don Det & Don Kon going through villages, passing by farms, through the dry rice fields. We went to see a waterfall, had lunch on the beach, and watched the water buffaloes cooling off in the river.

That was our nice New Years Eve day. The pace was set. At midnight we entered the 2009 smooching in our hammock...

Our New Years day was pure Lao day. Nothing except chatting with our fellow travelers and some ex-pats living on the island. Drinking Lao coffee (very creamy and dense), eating donuts (from a real bakery!), and getting some more hammock exercise. That day we also met a very nice French guy Gregory who was at the end of his 10 months trip around the world. He also has a blog (in French) with nice photographs: http://www.grig-around-the-world.blogspot.com/

At the "Paradise" we also met a group of mostly Frenchies who work for NGO's in Laos and Cambodia. Very interesting and nice people. A lot of insight I got into Cambodia was through a conversation with a couple from the group.

In order to really master the art of hammocking (?!), we decided to stay one more day in Don Det. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

To leave Don Det we took a boat to the shore and then a public bus (a large tuc-tuc) to Pakse. It was full, mostly with foreigners and a few locals including a lady who loaded the vehicle with the crates and bags full of big frogs, chickens and who knows what else. Throughout the ride, she kept moving her load around, arranging the bags under our seats by shuffling our legs. She was using the local bus to deliver her goods.

After 4 hours of the bus ride we arrived in Pakse. A rather ugly town. But with 2 good Indian restaurants. The only reason we went there was to rent a motorcycle for a 3 day ride in the Bolaven Plateau, something Miko has been talking about since Cambodia.

Bolaven Plateau

The next day we left Pakse and headed toward Tad Lo, our first stop, 85km away. On the way to Tad Lo we stopped to check out another waterfall Tad Paxuam. The waterfall itself was nothing spectacular but the area around was beautiful. Something like a park, tastefully built, run by a Thai company. There were huts in the trees (jungle tree houses) and an ethnic village. When building the huts they did not cut any trees but used the fallen trees. There is a tribe that lives in the area (I forgot the name) and two women dressed in ethnic clothes and funny haircuts were walking around. Miko was geeking out taking photos of them. After they asked for money.

We arrived in Tad Lo, a place known for its waterfall, in the early afternoon. We checked in The Tim's guesthouse, recommended to us by Donna & Lance in Don D et. The bungalow was cute, all crooked. There we bumped into Angie, our neighbor from Don Det, and together we went on a walk to see two waterfalls and to swim in the river. Cold.

At this point Miko was not very excited with what we were seeing. While the ride to Tad Lo and the place itself was nice, it was not new and surprising on each corner so Miko was a little disappointed. I was fine and happy to be just traveling around on a motorbike, but Miko due to his nature needed more.

Yes, I was anticipating this few day bike ride a lot. And I think that was my mistake. Too much expectation. Even if the first half of the ride wasn't amazing, it was still a nice one, and Tad Lo is a cute village where by waking up early (thanks to my daily bowel movement at 6am), I could witness the morning routine of people the re. Many villagers were squatting around a small fire and cooking breakfast. And because of all the smoke combined with the morning mist and the sun shining through, the place was really atmospheric. People in the river were bathing, washing clothes and fishing. Others were watering their little parcels of garden. And me, the lonely fallang (foreigner in Lao), was geeking out taking way too many pictures again.
The next day, after a walk through the surrounding area, visiting some villages with a local guide, we hopped on the motorbike and continued our journey. Hana was a bit anxious about the ride because we had about 30km of bumpy, uphill dirt road ahead. It went fine. Good job Miko! It actually took only 45 min to do and once we were at the top Miko asked: "Is that it?" Then we were riding on top of the Bolaven Plateau but it did not look much different from the rest. We went by many villages and rice fields and pretty farms with palm trees. We reached Sekong an hour before sunset and were looking for a guesthouse further down the road. We never found it. But we are glad we went to look for it beca use as we were driving we noticed a large group of people in some kind of procession. They were carrying something. By the time we stopped and turned around they disappeared in the forest. We tried asking one guy on a motorcycle if we could go and see but instead of replying he asked us for money. No surprise there.

After parking the bike we caught up with some people who were trailing behind the procession. We said hello, smiled. They smiled back, probably wondering what these " fallang" were doing here. We were guessing that there was a funeral happening but could not find the word for funeral in our useless Lao phrase book. They realised our curiosity and gestured to us that it was ok to go and see. We were excited and uncomfortable, but it didn't matter. You don't see a funeral in a forest every day. In the middle was a pile of wood on top of some structure where the body probably was. We could not see the body. Monks were chanting and some people were dressed all in white. We assumed they were the family members because white is the color of mourning in Asian cultures. But the rest of the people were all dressed casual and nobody was crying. There were smiling and in good spirit. Maybe it is because they are Buddhist and believe in reincarnation. We tried not to intrude too much but it was impossible. Soon everybody was turning around and looking at us and smiling. Then eve rybody crouched down, so we did the same. They lit up the wood on fire. People were approaching the fire and lighting incense. A circle of people formed around us. Seeing his camera, some people approached Miko and wanted their photo taken. Many were laughing. We could not really talk to anyone so we just smiled. Then everybody started leaving and motioning us to leave as well. They washed their hands in the bucket of water with orange slices before leaving. We did the same. Then everybody left.

I was happy we had this experience, but Miko was REALLY happy. Finally, the poor guy was getting something new and different and the feeling of adventure came back. I agree with him that sometimes these kind of experiences don't happen by themselves but you have to put yourself out th ere.On our way back to Sekong, the sun was going down, and there were more locals round and about. We noticed a group of young men playing some kind of volleyball with their feet. The ball is made of woven bamboo strings and hollow inside. One guy was specially good, doing flips in the air as he was hitting the ball and sending it back over the net. He was happy to be filmed and photographed which Miko happily did.

We spent the night in Sekong where we met a nice French couple in their forties, also on their trip around the world. Here is their blog: http://almansagirl.spaces.live.com/

It is crazy how many people we meet who are doing th e exact same thing as us - traveling for a long period of time.

On our third and final day of touring the Bolaven Plateau, had to do 70 km on a

dirt road partly through forest. It turned out to be the best part of the trip. The road was red dirt and rocks and it was slowly climbing uphill. The vegetation around was beautiful. A dense, green, jungle with massive plants and trees. Nobody on the road but us and the sound of birds chirping around. We were looking for two waterfalls which according to our guide book were hidden in the jungle. It was fun looking for them because we went at a much slower pace and enjoyed the scenery. We have found both of them and were able to get to the very top of the first one and look down. Scary as it was probably over 50m deep. The second one was further away in the jungle (Tad Katamtok), but we got the full frontal view of it. Supposedly it's the highest in Laos, about 90 m high, strong and impressive. We left some of Pepe's ashes there. It's something we've have been doing since the beginning of the trip, spreading Miko grandpa's as

hes where ever we go.

After the waterfall we still had 50 km of the dirt road. It was bumpy and full of big rocks which Miko got really good at dodging. But at some point we almost lost control and fell. Likely, Miko saved us by using his feet to skid on the ground until we regained balance. Good job again! Midway the vegetation and the landscape started changing, became more dry. Passing through villages, we were not alone anymore and the road became more hard packed and uneven, almost rigged. We were shaking through our bones and the vibration would just never stop. While the first half of the dirt road was really fun, the second part became draining. Even when the dirt road stopped, we still had to dodge many, many potholes on the

paved road. Eventually we made it back to Pakse tired but happy. Mission successfully accomplished.

Vientiane

Our next stop was the capital of Laos - Vientiane. We took a night bus from Pakse to Vientiane, 9 hours. The night bus is pretty cool. Instead of seats there are beds and each pa ssenger gets a pillow and a blanket, water and food. It felt a little like being on a plane. The only problem was that the bed was too short for Miko. He could never stretch completely. Either his feet were hanging off to the side, or his head was crooked. The average height is a lot shorter here. We arrived in Vientiane at 6am and it was so cold there. Initially we were planning on a two day stop but as we were driving into the city on a tuc-tuc, we decided that one day would probably be enough as we were not excited by the scenery. So, here is the brief of our crazy-busy day in Vientiane. It ended up being a lot of fun and a good memory.

6am - arrival at the bus station

7am - expensive but very appreciated american style breakfast of bagels w/cream cheese & brewed coffee at Yoma bakery. Very popular spot with ex-pats. There we saw a French guy #1 we met in Don Det as part of the NGO group.

8am - looking for a room

9am - checked into a room and rented a motorcycle ... again

10am - visit to the Buddha Park 20km south of the city, main reason why we came to Vientiane. It is a little like a Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India. Full of sculptures of Buddha. Very popular place for kids. Perfect for us.

1pm - lunch by the river. Hana ordered uneatable green papaya salad - too spicy. Ahhhh

2pm - visit to four out of hundred temples, followed by a visit to Phra That Laung, the symbol of the country. Beautiful when the sun shines on the gold paint but ugly when overcast.

4pm - Vientiane "Arc de Triomphe" called Patuxai. An ugly structure which even Lao people find unattractive. This is what it said on the sign on the building: " ...from a closer distance, it appears even less impressive, like a monster of concrete."

5pm - BEST TIME EVER - visit to the "Wat Sok Pa Luang" (means forest temple) for some Lao style herbal sauna and massage. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Soooooooooooooo Gooooooooooooood.

8pm - looking for a restaurant, ended up in an ex-pats bar with French guy #2 and then #1 again from Don Det. It felt as we were in France and not Laos. the conversation, the beer and the cigarettes.

10pm - Good Night.

8am the next day - local bus full of boxes and people to Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng

After 4 hours of uncomfortable bus ride we arrived in Vang Vieng. We wanted to stay at the Maylyn Guest House which several people recommended to us. It was supposed to be a secret spot but the Lonely Planet had it picked as its favorite. So much for the secret. We managed to snatch the last bungalow by a little bit of luck and a little bit of Hana's sneaky, competitive nature. We overheard two guys on our tuc-tuc mentioning that they are headed to the Maylyn guest house. The driver dropped us off at the bridge which we needed to cross. While waiting for our bags, which were unfortunately on the bottom of the pile, Hana got the money ready to pay the bridge toll. It's all about being ahead of the game. We handed the exact change first and got to the guest house before the other people. We won the last bungalow. Kind of a borring story when you recount but actually it was the only strugle we had in Laos :)

Maylyn Guest House was worth the effort. It is on the other, more quiet side of Vang Vieng, and has the best food ever. The banana chocolate pancakes are the best we had on this entire trip. They also had great sandwiches, specially the BLT's. It might not mean much to you but after months and months of eating Asian food, good sandwiches are very appreciated. Since we enjoyed the food so much there I was encouraging Miko to eat a lot hoping he would gain back some weight. He is all skinny now :(

We ended up staying 3 days in Vang Vieng. We enjoyed our stay there but we were not sad to leave. It is sad to see beautiful places like this getting destroyed by fast booming tourism. People mostly come here to go tubing, which means renting a tracktor's inner tube to float down the river and get completely trashed at one of the many bars along the way. The crowd is mostly composed of young Australian and British kids in their early 20's. The town itself does not look like anything it used to be. According to the Lonely Planet, a new guest house is being built every 46 days. Besides tubing & drinking, the second main activity is to watch reruns of "Friends" in many cafes all day long. I have no idea who and how started this trend. All this crap is on one side of the river. The side we visited only to check internet and rent a motorbike. We were staying on the opposite, more quiet side. There are a few guest houses with bungalows, but it has more of a village feel, surrounded by rice fields and mountains in the background. And if you explore further on this side you discover and can appreciate a magnificant landscape without a drunk dude yelling behind you. There we slowed down the pace a little.

Our first day was the best for Miko (if we cross out a little disapointing encounter at the end) and second day for Hana. On the first day we went to a view point that a local guy told us about. We had to walk 3km on a dirt road, turn right, pay 10,000 kip ($1.25), and hike up a steep 250m hill. A local kid followed us and as expected asked for money on the way. No way kiddo. At the top there was like a small hut with a bamboo roof. From there you could enjoy the beautiful landscape around. A valley full of rice fields with a few villages scattered around, surrounded by high green hills and sharp cliffs. It was past 3pm when we arrived. The sun was going down. Two teenagers were playing a guitar and singing. The music was very calming. We were completely absorbed. We stayed there for a long time, soaking it all in. As we were walking down, the same kid plus his buddy followed us and asked for money again. No way kiddos. Hana was getting very annoyed with it.

Then on our way back to the guest house, a group of locals sitting on a deck in front of a house asked us to join them for some Lao-lao (local drink like whiskey). We were in a very good spirit and were happy to share some time with the locals. The conversation was limited, so we smiled a lot. The lao-lao is pretty strong drink and they seemed to be drunk already. It was nice and fun until the drunkest one and also the owner of the place asked us for money for the drinks. The drinks he so warmly invited us to share with him and his friends. He was also the only one who spoke a little english and I'm not sure if the others understood what he had asked us. Hana immediately got up and as we were leaving one of them handed me another glass which I for sure took. Hana was very angry. They invite us & then ask for money?! She couldn't help disliking the people there and seeing them all as ignorant, greedy for money. Just like they see us all as big, walking bags of cash.

Joe, the cynical Irish owner of the Maylyn, told us that villagers in Vang Vieng, mostly uneducated people became really greedy with the ever growing tourism in the area. But when we told him about what happened to us, he seemed a little surprised. Inviting people over for lao-lao is common, asking them for money after is not. But it still happened to me again, two days later...

So, on our second day we went to visit the "Tham Sang Triangle". It is an area 13km north of Vang Vieng with 3 caves. The best one was the Tham Hoi cave. In the guide book it says that the cave continues 3km into the limestone and there is an underground lake at the end. As we started walking into the cave, a local guy sneaked in pretending to be another visitor taking pictures. Soon enough he was offering his service as a guide. No way kiddo. After he left, we realized that our head lamps were not very strong and if they died inthe middle of the cave we would be stuck, freacking out, crying like babies, not knowing how to get back. So, in order to avoid that, I went back to get us two more flash lights, free with the entrance ticket. As we were walking in, we saw two groups coming back. They had gone all the way to the end and it was about 30 min. After the last encounter we were completely alone in the dark and it became a little scary. I was remembering the movie "Descent" which freaked the hell out of me. In the movie a group of girlfriends goes underground to explore a cave and end up being slaughtered by half human/ half bat monsters. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Anyway, we kept walking depper & deeper, going through mud, climbing, crowling over the rocks, hoping we would find our way back. Then Hana started leaving a trail of pieces of paper behind us. After almost giving up and returning, we heard water in the distance and finally reached the underground lake. It was a strange feeling to be there, in the pitch black, wading in the water (Hana went skinny-dipping & was very happy), knowing that if our lights died we would not be able to find our way back. It was exciting and scary at the same time.

After coming out of the cave (so happy and proud we had made it without a guide) we went to the next cave - Tham Nam (Water cave). They give you an inner tube and a flashlight and you pull yourself by the rope floating on your tube. It sounds like great fun, but water was VERY cold. In a few minutes our butts were freezing. The cave is not very big so it took about 10 minutes to explore. Actually, the cave did go deeper in but there was no rope to pull on. It was enough anyway, we were cold and shivering when we got out. Overall fun day. Hana kept talking about it afterward.

On our last day in Vang Vieng, I rented a motorcycle and went on a 40km loop in the countryside, while Hana chilled out at the Maylyn guest house. The loop was fun. It is all dirt road more or less bad - shaky ride. It pretty much consisted in exploring the beautiful area we were contemplating from the view point. Somehow very early on I missed a turn and ended up doing the loop in the reversed direction. Lucky for me. Going through a village I heard female singing and pounding. Curious I backtracked to have a look and immediately got invited inside the house where the noise was coming from. Entering the main room was like entering another world. Everybody seemed to be drunk or drugged out. On the left, women were singing and pounding on the floor with big bamboo sticks. On the right, this welcoming and very drunk man handed me a glass of lao-lao which I HAD TO TAKE. Then he had one himself. On the right side of the room there were two circles of men sitting. They all looked completely drunk. I was called to drink from a large clay jar with a bamboo straw some other kind of alcohol. The man next to me had passed out. This is all happening a little before noon. Then I was called to another circle and given another lao-lao. It was strange and exciting. After another lao-lao a young man speaking english invited me to another room. Few men were sitting there and they played karaoke videos on the tv as background music. They kept drinking more lao-lao and me with them. The way it works in Laos, everybody is drinking from the same glass. One person pours, you drink it all, then pass the glass to the next person. It is inpolite to refuse a drink. The english speaker and I were trying to have some kind of conversation. Everyone was very nice. Then out of nowhere the english speaker asked me for money for the drinks. Surprised, I replied laughing: "No way, I am not paying for any drinks" and the guy continued the conversation as if nothing had happened. He kept being very nice and friendly but I was ready to go and did not trust anyone anymore. I said goodbye to my drunken hosts and got back on the bike hoping I could still ride straight.

We had noticed before that Lao people like to party a lot and it is always in the middle of the day. If you pass by and take a look you are very likely to be invited. Everything seems to be an excuse to celebrate: completion of a house or school, marriage, birthday, etc. And from what I noticed men get really hammered. They are a little scary sometimes when they are drunk. Usually everone is so mellow and quiet during the day but when they are drunk they are hyper, speak very loud, and laugh hysterically. But they are having fun, so what the hell...

So after I had left the party house, the rest of the ride was very nice. Going through villages, enjoying the landscape and saying "Sabaidee" with a big smile to everone I crossed.

We had a very good stay but we found it sad to see what has happened to Vang Vieng. This once quiet, pretty Lao town was beautiful and untouched until about 10 years ago. In my opinion tourism destroyed it. Staying on the other side of the river, away from the party crowd, we were able to enjoy it and I think we got the best possible out of Vang Vieng.

The next day we went to beautiful Luang Prabang where we were going to meet up with Mr. Kevin Bell, a good friend from SF. To be continued...