50. Lady Laos

**Unfortunately my camera is kaput - and all my pics from the 4000 Islands,Thakhek, Vientienne and some of Vang Vieng are all on the memory stick - so those can be recovered when i get back home and as for the rest - I can only hope I get me some serious tagging done from my fellow travelers!** 

Wowiiii it’s been three and a half weeks of Laotian bliss. I love this country! Green and lush, the trees seem to wrap themselves up over and into themselves, dripping leaves all over the place – it’s jaw dropping, job smacking stuff! The drive from Vientienne to Vang Vieng – and from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang is something that will stay with me forever. When I think back on it my heart chakra dances fifty styles of joy!

Anyhoo let’s start at the very beginning, and that’s waaay down south..in the four thousand Islands (Don det) where I stayed for eight nights.. yes eight. And anyone who’s been there will most certainly wonder what on earth I did for those eight nights? Well.. I had a hammock you see.. J And I read my book – as per usual when I love a book I finish it two days later – only stopping for the loo or a quick bite (and most likely taking the book with me) So yes, I relaxed, but that is not all – I did make up for it by kayaking to Cambodia for lunch. Yes, you heard me. I kayaked to another country and back for a bite to eat- and to watch some dolphins swim in the Mekong.. why not? J And boy, it was a tough job all right – when we were Kayaking back we were going against the current and I swear to goodness - Rosy and I nearly died a hard death – the two of us still baked out of our minds from the previous evening. Ahhh THAT’S what I did in Don Det.. haha – got baked. Rosy, Mano and I ate ‘happy’ pitza, ‘happy’ shakes, happy happy happy J We were so happy that when we arrived at the sunset spot we asked (in between heaves of laughter) whether the sun had set yet or if it had already gone.. Mano was mortified hiding on the drive and Rosy was laughing so hard she nearly fell into the pot plants at the entrance, and there I was – spewing and heaving fits of giggles trying to get this sentence out.

Ahhh. We we’re so happy that we couldn’t even order food without pissing ourselves laughing! That poor waiter! we..wahhahahahaha..have.hahahahwaaaahaa..some..WAHHHHAAAAHAHA Sorry..” Spose he’s used to it – probably a tad happy himself. Funny thing about Laos is that you always find yourself thinking your in their home and that if you order something you may be disturbing them, while they relax (and sometimes sleep) and chat with their friends and family, watch T.V and busy themselves about.

Me, “I feel like I’m disturbing him.”

Mano, ”No, this is a restaurant.”

You do tend to forget – the waiter was so ensconsed in his soap opera and rather annoyed we would interrupt to order something J And the other lady was having a brief lie down. The lao ladies at my guest house wore different sets of matching pajamas every day – chillers J

Anyhoo.. other than the endless “happiness” I mozied around the island – I liked it a lot – it reminded me of the Gili’s in a way – a mix of Gili Meno – the teeny tininess of it, and Gili Air in the sort of localness of it – little shops and so forth. Oh, and Rosy, Mano and I went to the biggest waterfall in South East Asia which was incredible – super scary – I always get little tingles in my feet when I’m on the edge of such a cliff..vertigggooooooo…Did I mention that I was in a bungalow on stilts? On the Mekong – yup. ON. Not next to. ON. Water gushing underneath me putting me to sleep – and I could watch the sunset from my balcony (on my hammock!) and watch all the long tail’s pass me by..

So after all this relaxing I headed North to Thakek – I’m probably still pronouncing it wrong – never could get it right – and linked up with three funny Spanish dudes for a night there – we went marketing – very gross local market just like the one in my village in Thailand! Yuk a duck! Then I left them boys and went with some French people to these massive caves where you canoe through and then trek – it was mad! Biggest I’ve ever seen! Really beautiful – but bloody hot. Laos certainly doesn’t give a shit about safety though – I mean rocks come down, no one is too bothered – no hard hats, just some flip flops and a smile.

Then it was time for another bus journey – ah! The busses!! I didn’t mention that – my God!! The buses. I do not know where to begin. DEATH TRAP would be a start. Chickens, HUGE bags or rice, just pack pack pack pack – keep stopping fill up the bottom with wood, doors, windows, pack some more rice in next to the people upstairs.pack pack pack..seven hours behind schedule..no worries, let’s keep packing some more..ok let’s go – at full speed, who cared if the roads are pot holed and wet – full speeeeeed!!! BAMB tire bursts, chichens fly, rice damages some serious bums, heads and legs, and my back. What a rude awakening. Stop again. Sigh. Patience is a virtue – hmmm.

Never the hoo I got to Vientienne and got some sleep in a comfy bed, at long last and it was all veeery special J I had REAL coffee for the first time in months at one of the darling little French Bakery’s – I walked about and got a massage – so needed! I thought my back was about to crack and burst and scream and twist and spasm all at the same time. Vientienne is not much of a show stopper – it was lovely for the two nights (one and a half really since I arrived at five in the morning) but I wanted to move onwards and upwards!

To.. Vang Vieng!! AHHH bliss. Perfection. Beauty. Adventure! This little town is nestled in lime stone cliffs and it just oozes lushy green everything – it’s BEYOND beautiful. Very very good looking town indeed. And what a fun place, filled with all sorts of activities! I stayed at a hostel called Pan’s Place which was without a doubt the best hostel I have stayed in for a looooong while! Hammock chill area, fairy lights and bungalows to boot..need I say more? On my first day I linked up with three really cool dudes, two Brits and an Ozzie. We played presidents and arseholes every night – in our Hammock area of coarse J listening to Tracy Chapman and good ol Dylan..it was super chilled and so much fun! We went tubing too – it had to be done J – which was a real hoot. It’s not what it used to be – thank goodness – but it was fun none the less – we played volley ball and basket ball and drank and smoked, and enjoyed the Mekong on our tubes – it was a sight alright! There are a few bars there that are great fun, and the Irish Bar made a mean homemade Pie!! My first few nights were with them, and then they headed South and a new bunch arrived which brought in one of my best day’s in Asia – no doubt! We got some dune buggies – more like the go carts and all beefed up – and went on a mad off road mission – it was madness – drenched in mud, zooming super fast through villages, chickens flying everywhere and skidding as not to crash into the cows – the scenery was spectacular – rice paddies and mountains rolling on forever, and the five of us – me and four crazy ass boys, going mental and loving every minute of it. No wait, that’s not entirely true since I was actually having small heart attacks every now and again. I shared one with Alexis – we got them for 5 hours and we shared the driving. When he drove I was shitting in my pants, because I could feel the whip lash and it just terrified me pants off!! But when I drove I was loving every minute – totally in control.. control issues maybe? Haha Naah but your also focusing on th I also went tubing again with this lot and we had some serious mud fighting going on! Fun fun fun. We also went to the blue lagoon where you swing off ropes into the water or jump off the tree – super fun and it’s really pretty as is everything in Vang Vieng. On one of our off days we chilled out in one of the restaurants watching back to back friends episodes on one of the big screens and oh! I tried opium. Pretty intense stuff. Won’t be doing that again but it was fun to try, why not right? I was in Vang Vieng for eight nights. Yup. Got a t – shirt for it haha. Loved that place, LOVE LOVE LOVED it!

Next up was Luang Prabang, who is also a pretty good looking person indeed! ;) Very chilled town, I joined up with a French Canadian Antwan (dunno how to spell that) and Claire from the U.K – there are some lovely restaurants here that are really pretty – filled with green vines and pot plants – they remind me of Ubud. Loveliness. This one place called Utopia is magnificent, same style and with low lighting and just so nicely done – chilling on the Mekong J And the night market has AMAZING buffets for very very very cheap – it’s madness! Gonna miss that! And the market is sensational – I bought tons of goodies – nothing makes me more happy that buying a bunch of prezzies for my nearest and dearest back home! So excited to give them to them – eeeeeek!! And of coarse there are temples and I yes..arrrg.. I did go see one. Before hand I had actually vowed not to do that again, fearing my frustration at yet another bloody temple would combust into flames and burn the thing down. Anyhoo I did go with Claire, and SURPRISE! It was most enjoyable. Very weird – you enter into hell, and then climb stairs upwards into earth, and then the third floor is heaven – then the top which is where Buddah chills out. It was really interesting, I wish all temples were that creative – I’d probably see more of them ;) Oh, and the National museum was awesome to see to – done very well and it was interesting to see how the royal’s lived (Royal palace) Their living quarters were basic, nice, but basic, whereas the entertainment section for the king and queen could compete with that of the Brittish Royal family in terms of elaboration and so forth. OH! And bowling – that’s the thing here – because the town closes at 11:30pm every night – it’s the only thing that stays open – and it’s SUCH fun! The first time I killed it – and the second..hmmm. J

Now I’m just chillin at my hostel. Relaxing, reading, writing, drinking some tea J Got my bus in a few hours..yay!!

I’m so excited for Thailand I can barely breathe – it feels like I’m going home to my second home, and oh! How I have missed it!! Eeeeeeek. Bursting bubbles of joy all over the place!

Kop Jai lai lai Lady laos!! (thank you very much)

It’s been an absolute pleasure!