Day 2 - a nite would never forget

Nothing too exciting in Sekong, we decided to move on to another town Attapeu (means "buffalo poo" in Lao). It was already 530pm. driving to Attapeu would take at least 2 hours driving, which means we would be driving in the dark. It sounded very isolated n calm (if you understand what i mean...) I was over the moon excited n looking forward to the dark.

Driving 100km/hr in the sunset. The pink orange sky has blown me away. On the way, we saw local villagers bathing in the river preparing for the end of the day; color of the forest changed from bright light green to dark green. Weather was getting cooler. Everywhere was getting quieter and quieter. Finally everything around us became total darkness n complete quietness. I could only hear the bike and the wind blown on my face. Could only see the only head light from our bike. There were jus me, ben and the bike in this world. Surreal.

I looked up at the sky. I was stunned by what I saw. there was no moon light. No light. Thousands and thousands of stars were above me, surrounded me. The scene didn't change for a very long while. A straight road, could only see 5m ahead of us. driving into the dark hole overwhelmed by the stars both sides. I felt like we were living in a giant snowglobe. Apart from stars, I could see milky way, satellite moving and a shooting star.

This was definitely one of the most beautiful nite I ever had if not the very best one. The sky, the moment, has blown me away. I never ever been feeling so carefree. Nothing bothered me anymore, i was melted in the joy of freedom. I was so happy and greatful for what was in front of me, like in a dream. I asked Ben to stop by the road and jus to enjoy a quiet moment together. Everything was so perfect and so calm.

Thank you Ben. If it was not you having me sitting at the back I would never be able to have such mind blowing night.

Day 2 of the southern swing - Tat Lo, Thateng n Sekong

Day 2 (day 25 of our traveling) - was panicking for almost an hour in the morning to find the motobike key. Was throwing things around for no better things to do last nite. Anyway, got it n ready to go.

Drove few kilometers away here was the slippery walk to Tat Lo. Was stopped for 15 mins due to heavy rain. The weather was getting unpredictable and changed very quickly because we were in the forest and at the mountains. Was very cold when it rained. We were all hiding under some trees, had no time to worry that might increase our chance to hit by lightening. Short rain, we survived and we continued our journey.

The muddy slope was hell slippery. What made it more worrying was the slippery down hill slope leads you directly to the top of Tat Lo. So, if you fall, you fall with the waterfall.

Here was Tat Lo. Tall. I could barely see the waterfall as we were right a the edge of the top. Even thou pix taken from the top don't look as good as taken from further away it, these photos certainly life risking ones.

It would be nice to have picnic there. nice sun, water from the river coming to the waterfall at the top of the mountain, overlooking the Bolaven Plateau...

On the way to Sekong (planning that would be our 2nd destination), we had lunch at Thateng. The town was a small trade town with a small market and some local style restaurants. Couldn't order anything special as there was no menu. Can only have laap with sticky rice and noodle soup.

Arrived Sekong in a late afternoon. It was a bit of non event for us. It was a medium size town with a bigger market. The only thing there drew our attention was UXO Lao. Without a map, it took us an hour to find where it was even it was a very small town. While we jus about to give up, we bumped into it, which located in an under construction street.

UXO Lao is a local mines clearing organization in the country ran by the Lao people. It displayed different kinds of clusters, grenades and bombs hidden in Lao.

First stop Tat Lo

Day 1 (day 24 of traveling) of our southern swing on the road - arrived our first stop at Tat Lo. This place was our first retreat from hours of driving on the bike. There were only 2 of us were travelers. In fact, apart from the guesthouse owners, seemed we were the only 2 human being.

Before we checked out the town, we checked in a bungalow in lush gardens along the bank of the river, from Tat Hang to Tat Suong. Had my best lunch here. Coffee Lao, pineapple shake, chicken fried rice with fish source. Enjoying our delicious food in the natural garden next to a waterfall. Perfecto! Soooooo good. a taste of paradise.

We went for a hike along the rivers. Bumped into some local villagers, mostly kids n their mums, grand mums, bathing and swimming in river. We hiked to the end of the trail. Along the way, we saw some really wired looking flowers, 2 shy cows, millions of ants, very quick n skinny spiders and the hidden village (where we were too shy to walk n say hi).

Gotta take a nap after a long day driving n hiking. had our dinner in the garden again. Another best dinner I ever had. Curry beef, vermicelli salad and spring roll. It was raining occasionally outside. We sat under the roof enjoying our food while watching the geckos on the roof having their dinner too. The geckos here are american size. A lot of food supply! We were laughing so much. The geckos brought a lot of fun. And how amazing we both watched a thai TVC about geckos in different country n in a different time.

Had a short walk see if any chance we would bumped into any travelers. No sign of human beings. Walked back to our room, play cards n silly games. A very soft, mild and nice chilling day 1.

Apparently, Tat Lo, the real waterfall is 10 mins bike ride from the guesthouse. So, we will go n check it out tmr before we head to the next destination.

Southern Swing - Day 1 start from Pakse

Day 24 - sleeping like a log in the overnite bus. Arrived Pakse early in the morning at 7am. The south was gonna be the real thing. Places we planed to go would pass through jungles, waterfalls, living in bungalows, cold showers in our big southern swing.

We hired a motobike at Pakse n started our 4 days southern swing journey. never been so excited before. driving into the middle of no where. Pakse was the only major trading town in the south. Once we drove off from Pakse, there would be only 2 of us n the bike. Most of the time it was jus a straight road, surrounded by rice fields, coffee plants, papaya trees and all kinds of fruit trees. From time to time there were locals driving pass by us. Everyone was so generously friendly saying "sabydee" (hi!) n waving.

Our south swing started from Pakse - Tad Lo (Tad means waterfall) - Thateng - Sekong - Attapeu - Katamtok - Sekong - Tad Niang - Tad Fane - Pakxong - Pakse

I have been traveling to many places, this one is by far one of the most interesting, emotional, awakening travel journey.

A day in Vientiane - capital of Laos

I m physically back in HK but my soul still traveling, a.k.a. post travel syndrome. Now enjoying to recall every minute of my memories in laos once again by writing it down. Also enjoying the efficiency of my computer how quickly i can resize and upload the pix. In Laos it took me around 30 mins to figure out how and where to download a resize photos program n another 10 minus to upload against 30 seconds to complete the whole process here. i love it!!!! now, my traveling continues again.

Day 23 - we have been staying in Vang Vieng for too long. After rushing to the police station for a police report (20,000 kip administration fee, but good service), all the blues gone n we were happy to move on.

3-4 hours fast & furious mini van ride, we arrived Vientiane at about 1pm. Me and Ben were planning to head south today right a way. So, first thing we went to check out different travel agents for overnight bus tickets. Haha! we were told the only road from Vientiane to the south was flooded by the Mekong couple days ago n no bus was resumed yet. Thought we have wasted an extra day in Vang Vieng, same same but different. it was time for Plan B! We would stay a nite in Vientiane then.

The hot spinach lasagna from Joma surely has brightened my day. The taste of westernization n civilization brought a big smile on my face. i was a happy girl. Ben was reading the BKK news n i was busy filling up my happy stomach.

We finally found an over night bus to Pakse (major town in south Laos)!! yay! would leave at 730pm. Time to look around!!

Went to Patuxai, Arch of Triumph, the city's most prominent monument. Had a good look at the city from the top of the tower. I love this city. flat, endless, structured and clean.

Took a tuc tuc to Pha That Luang (Stupa). The most important national monument in Laos. The whole construction was covered in gold. not sure if the whole thing was covered in real gold, jus for sure it looks amazingly lux under the sun. Spent another 100 pictures in this place. couldn't take our camera away from it.

A short stay in Vientiane. Had a very spicy laap, beer n shake, in an restaurant nearby our guesthouse. off we go. Next station, Paske

bye bye camera

Day 22 - coudln't leave town today as we still searching for our bag. Thought might be left behind at the last bar, but no luck. So, now we could officially confirmed that the bag was stolen. Checked out the Vang Vieng market hoping we would find the camera there. My heart would be so broken if I saw it there. It wasn't! I really don't know whether I was feeling relief or disappointed. Surely now I am disappointed. Found it in a shit hole is way better than no seeing it again...

Semi good news is my travel insurance would cover the lost n Ben got a nikkon DSLR we could use for the journey. The first time since a long time I had that bitter feeling inside me created by losing things. I seldome "lost" lost things, even so, I wouldn't let it bother me too much or thinking it too long. This time was different.

I have been enjoying Laos from day 1. I love this country n I love the people here. How ironic it was i m working a book on this country n my camera, money, my favorite shorts, my havianas were stolen here. I was very frastrated n grumpy at the time. So wanted to go home. Yet now, what's gone is gone.

A lot of people (including locals n the travellers) offering help, offering their pictures (haven't said that all their contacts were in the bag too....) Even thou we still can't retrieve anything. Life goes on. The book has a more interesting story to tell.

Bye bye havianas... Bye Bye camera... Bye Bye Vang Vieng

OH MY GOD!!!

day 21 -
oh my God!
I lost my havianas!! where were they? Which drunk head took my shoes? >_<
oh my God!
The Laos girl working in the opposite restaurant was wearing my flip flops! Caught you! retrieve my havianas. Hurray!!!
Oh my God!
how tubing could be so much fun n never got bored about it.
oh my God!
all our new met frens back to the river again.
oh my God!
the mud war was so crazy. Everyone was covered in mud from head to toe.
oh my God!
I dun think I would try the mushroom shake...
oh my God!
it was 730pm. we had almost 30ppl tubing down the river in the dark, talking shit, having fun, super cold, laughing.
oh my God!
dun let those kids grab your tube. they would ask you money afterwards.
Oh my God!
I nearly got flushed away. thanks Patrick (from England) for grabbing my tubes with his feet (?! forgot which part of his body, but thanks.)
Oh my God!
what? our dry bag tagged around the tube was missing?
oh my God!
my camera n half of the pix i took was there... my von dutch short, my havianas (lost them twice in a day???)...
oh my God!
the kids took it?
oh my God!
this happens everyday?? i was told.
oh my God!
the bag was not anywhere...
oh my God!
the bag still not here or returned...
oh my God!
are you sure we had to go to the police station?
oh my God!
nothing you could do, mr. policeman?
oh my God! oh NO!

Tubing again

Day 20 - in the river again. Sunny sunny day. Got very tanned. Way more people than the fist time. I finally did my swing jump. My heart was pounding like crazy. Bloody high up. It wasn't look that high when I was in the bar looking up. but it was completely different angle up on the platform. hell scary.

I could hardly grab hold the handle as it was taller than me. All I was told was hold on n swing twice then jump. That was how i do it. The pull of the swing was bigger than i expect. I was technically pulled out to the air. The swing I did wasn't the tallest one, guess it was about 10m high. When I was out in the air, nothing much I could do or think apart from hang in there n hope to land straight. Heard people saying "Jump! Jump!", so I did. Next second was in the water, bikini top loosen. I had no idea how I dive or how I droped, not painful thou. Now I had to hold my top, swim against the current n tried to grab the tube threw from the shore. It was a bit of hardwork.

Next time, I did the slide in another stop. I didn't let go until the handle hit the stop so I was swung far out. Again, no idea what i did, next second was in the river. Ben told me I did 2 back flips n land straight to the river. sounded super cool, yay?

Met a lot of new friends today. Travellers from Ireland (more irish...), Germany, Australia and Britain. I hope they will read this too. I have telling people about this project, n i love these people. Everyone has been very supportive and positive. Thank you!!!! Lots of love.

Caving n swiming at the lagoon

Day 19 - Today we decided to rent a moto crossing the bridge to see one of the biggest caves n do some swimming at the river.

Arrived the Lagoon. It was beautiful. It was another river flows to the Mekong. Since it is not the main river, the river is milky turquoise in color + green trees, cows, swings and the lime stone, has created a fairy tale scene. We swam there for a while, had lunch n started climbing up the mountain to the cave.

The way hiking up to the cave wasn't easy. It was pretty steep n slipery. I can hardly say there is a path to hike. We were most of them climbing up, especially me was with both hands. The cave was big. There was a shrine table with one sleeping budha n some small ones. Sun light coming in from the cracks shining on the budha's face.

Behind the budha n the big rock, is the huge cave. Dont get me wrong, we needed to half crawl n half hike in order to get to see the budha table. But if you wanna see more, would have to climb deeper.

Walking down was another hardwork. much worse than going up because of the slipery mud. There were 2 locals behind us. The kid was jus hoping down the mountain, made me looking like a retard. Today I learnt this word "argile". not me, them.

On the way back, hit the rain. Got heavily bombarded for 10 mins before the ending. All wet afterall.

Tubing down the river

Day 18 - great fun great fun. A lot of people came to Viang Vien was for the tubing going down the Nam Song river. Chilling out on the tube, dropping by to different bars along the river n the robe swing.

It didn't rain. SUPER LUCKY!! Early in the morning we went, i was the no.22 tuber. No good. imagine only 20 something ppl floating down the big river, how fun would that be. So, we floated a bit, popped up to one of the bars n waited.

More and more people came in the afternoon. The current was strong. Several times i nearly got flushed away. My impractical bikini wasn't very ideal for such great strong current. they were all over the place when i tried to climb up to the shore. The bar people would throw a robe to you n you had to grab it. if you missed, you down with the river. I never managed to grab the robe myself... man's job.

It was real good fun watching people doing swing dive. i didn't dare to as they were very high (4-5 stories high at least). i went up but walked back down. chicken!! i did the slide thou. it was good fun. as high as the swing where i jumped but never as high as the swing.

It was a good way to meet people and make friends. We met some Irish people and several other people from different countries, chili, australia and england. A very chill out in the bars, very exciting and freezing cold on the river day.

Apart from the fun, the scenary was stunning along the river. lime stone mountains, blue sky, greeneries, very beautiful background, allowed me to take some good pix. Feeling tired after a 5-6 hours tubing on the river...

Suffering day

Day 18 - suffering from yesterday dare devil experience. oh, jus heard some hippies smoking marijuwana in a bar, which the bar we went selling too, got busted n fined for usd 2000 per head. 2 of them were still in jail as they couldn't pay to bail themselves out.

So, today was sunday but it was a bit non-event due to the above reason. We jus again sat in different resturants having bruch (couldn't woke up until 1pm) n then an afternoon nap then dinner in another resturant.

Got to do something tmr!!!

Happy shake & Opium tea

Still day 17, heard a lot ppl talking about the happy faces in bars. We were curious to find out. So here we ordered a happy shake n they had opium tea on the menu (100,000kip - usd 12 per drink, expensive!!!). So we ordered that too. The happy shake was mixed fruit juice with marijuwana and the opium tea, i guess, a mixed of opium n a bag of leapton tea bag. The happy shake tasted jus like a banana shake but the opium tea was nasty, like the 24 herbal tea we have in hong kong.

I didn't feel much different after having those drinks, but i could tell my fren was stone. I only felt super tired. Had some good laugh then off we went back to our guest house.

After back to the room, lights off, i think i had hallucinations, jus a bit.

The next day was the suffering day. I felt blur n tired for the whole day. So not worth doing. But I least I tried n understand why it messed up our country.

Another extreme experience that duno should include into the book or better not...

Vang Vien

Day 17 - woke up 620am to catch a bus to Vang Vien. Another 7 hours ride from Phousavan (the east) to Vang Vien (the centre). More windy road up in the mountains. there was jus one route from town to town. so, it was an unavoidingly route. Passed throu a lot small villages in heavy rain. The ride wasn't pleasant as there were many people getting car sick. there were only 2 of us were foreigners. luckily we managed to survive.

The first impression of Vang Vien wasn't too great. Tuk Tuk drivers trying to rip us off as it was raining badly n we looked a bit lost after 7 hours bus ride. Anyway, managed to find a guest house to settle down.

There were lots of bars and restaurants here. Apparently it was backpackers' heaven. A lot of outdoor activities such as tubing, kayaking, rock climbing to do. We arrived pretty late n under heavy rain. so, we spent our whole afternoon watching friends in a bar n had our dinner at 430. nothing too much exciting here yet but we decided to do a bit cycling together tomorrow morning to have a better look around this town.

I seriously thinking i might jus wear bikini n pants tmr as no point to wear anything as you probably wet n muddy anyway. The only concern is, it is cold in the rain. Really cold. even laura, a british girl, says it is cold. so, i guess i m not being exagerating. Are we not in the equator thou??

Lao - the most heavily bombed country on earth

Still day 16, we visited MAG (Mines Advisary Group) in town. Sadly to know just recently Lao is the most heavily bombed country. Just in site 1 alone, there were 1920 cluster bombs n 3288 cluster bombs around the site, plus quite a few big bombs too, were dropped. There are 30% of them still hiden under the soil, still not yet cleared. The demolition process took MAG 1 year to complete jus along the paths n around the jars in all 3 sites.

It was more shocking to learn that not until 1997, 24 years after the Vietnam war (1964-1973) did the US government released the data of how many and where the bombs were dropped in Lao. The concern of UXO (unexplored ordnance) has enhanced the provety in this country by slowing down its agricultural development. The impact has been huge n caused casaulty n injuries to the locals and 50% were kids.

Thou the war has been long ended, the consquences of war still bothering this country in a huge concern. Hope I can convince the sponsors to donate partial of the money to do some little help here.

Plain of jars

Day 16 - Woke up at 830 this morning as early as usual. Had my favorite yogurt n lao coffee at Craters (very nice restaurant) in Phousavan. We went cycling from town to the Plain of jars. There were 3 sites there but we could only managed to go one as the other 2 were not in cycling distance n the road was far too muddy in the rain.

site 1 was 15km from town, took us about 45mins to ride. It was a tough ride. To start, my bike was too tall for me. my feet couldn't touch the ground (not very assuring) n the back wheel break doesn't work (more un-assuring). A lot of uphills and downhills along the way, was pretty exhausting.

The jars looked like BBQ stoves made of stones. No one really knows what the jars were here for. More interesting thou, was the mines hidden under the soil. There were warnings and marks everywhere to alert ppl staying within the white zone.

On the way back to town, my luck didn't go very well. my back wheel was flat. i must have rode over some sharp rocks again... which wasn't difficult because it was a rocky road. So, needed to find some help from the local bike shops for some fixing n continue our ridding in the rain journey.

Back to the guest house, covered in mud. I have reached to a point that i didn't have to worry how dirty i was anymore. It was freezing cold in the rain, my feet was brownish black so as my t shirts, my pants n my hands...

A day to the East - Phonsavan

Day 15 - woke up at 545am to the market in order to grab some deep fried bananas for another 8 hours ride to the South. Goodbye to Zaid, Martin n Anna, me and Laura started our journey at 830am from Sam Neua.

Apart from me and Laura, all the others were locals. If there is a spiting competition, i think passengers on this minibus would win. Every now and then i heard people spiting thru the window. The lady sitting in front of me, definately the gold metal winner. seriously, as i had not much better thing to do on a minibus, i subconciously watching her all the way. She spitted at least 100 times or more. what was worst, she has been evolved from spitting to vomitting. that was gross. it was windy. you could image i was sitting at the back watching everything.

These 8 hours wasn't too pleasant, honestly. i am glad i arrived n left the spitting championship. As recommended by Martin, we checked in a very nice guesthouse, where seriuosly called "nice guesthouse". it was the first time i had a bath tub. Thank God for that. that's exactly what I needed.

Not cheap. it was 90,000 kip (USD 12) for tonite shared between 2. Wooo~~ cost as much as JD coke in Yumla. Lao is cheap. I love it.

The Yes and the OK

We finally figured out what led to the communication breakdown. Apparently most Lao people thought "Yes" means "Ok, i hear you (but doesn't mean that i understand)" No wonder we had millions of question marks in our heads why on earth people here say "Yes" but ended up completely different thing.

Jus a tip. But very useful you understand this here because it will save you alot frastrations. Be prepared to wait in a resturant for 30mins before you realize a "yes" means a "ok"

A day on the bike to Vien Xia

Day 14 - Got up again early like always now. checked out the market on the other side of the river. Had a really cheap noodle soup costed me only 5,000 kip (usd 0.7). started off our day pretty early. I really wanted to try to ride a moto, so today would be the day.

There were 4 of us. decided to hire 2 bikes instead of 4, to save some money. I shared a bike with Zaid. He was doing the driving n I might try it out on the way back. Funny thing is the dashboard didn't work AT ALL. We had no idea how much gasoline we had, how fast did we go, or what gear we were in. we have rented 2 pieces of moving metal technically. So... not very ideal. Zaid managed it pretty well eventually. Sam & Nat's one, however, the back wheel break didn't work properly. The mountain road was going up n down, very windy and it was raining. Bike crashes twice! Difficult to explain in words but no one got hurt. They more like riding a wild horse than riding a moto. it was quite hilirious actually. Sam tried to get some help from the nearby villagers but they didn't understand. the bike couldn't be more fucked as it was already fucked when we first rented it. Sam & Nat had to head back. We met Martin and Anna from holland on the way. wicked! journey continued.

Wasn't quite a comforting start my day of learning to ride a moto. Anyway, Vien Xia is beautiful. This village is qiute spreadout n the scenary is stunning. limestone mountains, lakes and forest. Very calm n peaceful. Underneath this peaceful scenary however, it was a major war zone during the vietnam war. Apparently every 8 mins there was a bomb dropped by the US army into this beautiful town and there were 480 caves as shelters for the local military n the locals used across this region. We visited several important caves n listened to some fasinating history of this country. Very interesting. Got more materials to cover for this project.

I finally tried out the moto experience. My turn!! it was a manual bike, i needed to use my right leg to control the back wheel, left leg to change clutch, right hand to accelerate n hand break for the front wheel. And with Zaid at the back. No one dies. YAY! jus not use to use my leg on the break when i already loosing balance. I could feel Zaid's nervious at my back. basically there were 4 legs dragging n 2 wheels driving. It may sound dangerous but i was driving dead slow. It was great fun thou. Only drove like 10mins, that was my first day of the driving lesson.

Dinner at the same resturant 2 nites day time n nite time in roll. We were pretty shit in exploring resturants as it has been raining. I would leave my frens tmr heading south while they would head back to Nong Khiaw. Bumped into Laura, an english girl who planed to go to the same destination as i did. Sweet! Another journey with a new company!!

Fuck all day in Sam Neua

Day 13 - didn't sleep at all last nite didn't leave us a clear mind. Today we managed to find a cheap guest house (no hot water shower...) but cheap enough as my financial situation wasn't too positive.

We droped off our bags and NEEDED food and a coffee. I had fried noodles and a lao coffee (very very good n strong coffee). We kind of walk around the town a bit. It was early morning about 730am when we finished breakfast. We tried to stay awake but it was hard.

Took a nap until 4pm n headed out for food again. wanna checked out the bus schedule for my next destination n information centre is closed. Everything seems extremely difficult to schedule here. Information from the locals was a bit confusing as everyone has their own version. so, there was a lot of guessing and trying n failing. haha!

Went to the same restuarant as this morning. apparently other resturants on lonely planet didn't exist anymore. Now pissing outside again. Managed to find an internet shop to do some writting. All other shops were closed. A korean traveller here had bigger problem than us. He can barely speaking any english n arranging his flight was almost impossible. I am now happy be able to help by lending him my mobile so he could call his family back home for some assistance.

Tmr I will rent a moto to drive around outside town. There is supposed really nice scenary n caves out there. will see. couldn't take any pix as the weather was pretty fucking bloody bad.

bus experience in Laos

Day 12 - A day of travelling from the north to the east. Last nite we were told there would be a nite bus from here to the east. We checked out the rooms, were waiting at the guest house reasturant from 7-11, there was no bus. So tired we gotta re-check in again n stayed for the nite. Woke up 730am (early monring again), trying to head east. We were told there was bus in the morning at 8am or 9am, but once again, there was no bus. We were then told go to the bus station at 11am again for the bus. apparently there was the only bus leave town to Sam Neua. I had no clue where the nite bus and early bus thing came from.

Went to the bus station again (most of the time we spent our time checking out bus schedule how to get out. it was unbelievabily difficult) there was a bus left at noon, but it was full!!! wicked!!! there was no sign where to buy tix, what the schedule was n now was full. i wondered how people got their tix from. Apparently they were all locals. A group a travellers including myself were stucked in the bus station in the pissing rain.

There was an offer which was 200,000kip (usd 28) each to charter a minibus in a group of 8. After an hour of bargain, the locals saw the desparation in our faces, so, NO BARGAIN!! that wasn't a good sign.

820pm, after 7 hours ride, no food, we finally stoped by a resturant in the middle of no where for some noodles. We had a group of 7 here from different countries. We couldn't have our fried rice. apparently the guy who took the orders didn't have a clue what we said. so we sat there for half n hour waiting before we ordered soemthing else from a more communicative lady (still need to speak laos, no english...) First experience of complete lost in translation.

After another 5 hours ride, we finally arrived Sam Neua at 2am. We couldn't find a budget guest house, so we decided to stay at the bus station for the nite. The driver wasn't very nice. He was so desparately to get rid of us. The nite was cards + lao lao nite in a cold n quite bus station. what an experience. interesting thou. we had fun drinking lao lao. my nites are getting from a shit hole to no hole to hide. haha!! Nice.

Heading to the North day, Nong Khiaw

Day 11 - Woke up at 530am trying to catch the monks recieving alms on the street in Luang Prabang. Today was the last morning i stayed here. I went to Joma bakery for toast n coffee for breakfast. Apparently they served the best coffee in town n was true. It was very good.

Caught an 830 minibus to Nong Khiaw. It was a 4 hour bus ride to the North from here. I met a british traveller, Zaid, in the bus. So we decided to check out Nong Khiaw together. The 4 hr ride wasn quite pleasant when you had a company to talk to.

Nong Khiaw was a very small town, surrounded by mountains. Beautiful scenery but that was what it got. nothing much else. We went to the cave, walked throu some rice field. few hours walk. On the way, we saw people bathing in the drain, more like a village gathering i guess.

The bungalow i stayed was ok. got all the basic stuff you needed. very very basic. the light n the heater didn't work thou. so i had to shower in cold water in the dark with my torch on. didn't really enjoy that part.

I have been really bad in keeping things somehow in this trip. after my ipod n my pen, i lost the room lock n the key. It was a bit annoying as i continuously loosing stuff in this trip, wasn't too impressive so far.

No reception or internet in Nong Khiaw either. It's been fun exploring the unknown but i stated to doubt how long i can live like this seriously. i do appreciate all i have at home.

wondering around day

Day 10 - my last day in Luang Prabang before heading to Nong Khiaw tomorrow. Started my day with my current favourite mixed fruit + yogurt + honey n ginger tea. the Lao yogurt was freezing cold like ice-cream. wake you up in the morning.

I started my "anita in luang prabang" with the royal palace museum. It was the living house of the former king. don't wear sleeveless top as i had to pay 2000kip for coat...

I then walked to the Wat (temple) Mai Suwannaphumaham next to it. It was under contruction but i think i managed to take some photos. after a while, i noticed all the temples look pretty much the same. so i m trying out different angles or try to grab some monks to take picture, jus to make some different.

More wats seeing before lunch time. Went to Wat Ho Siang and Wat Pha Mahathat, which are pretty nearby too. The monks are quite friendly in general. unfortunately they don't quite speak english so i could only have some short chat with them.

while my wondering around i bumped into a spanish photographer. (hi george, i m taking about you.) I finally know the difference between RAW n jpg. Bumped into some other travellers n some locals as well. Good fun having a walk on your own. always suprises along the way.

Will check out the nite market tonite. u will have your presents from there, frens :)

A day out to the waterfall n the caves

Day 9 of my travelling. We decided to go somewhere further outside Luang Prabang. Woke up again at 8am this morning. how amazing my life seem more behaving than back home. sleep early, wake up early nice n fresh. Had the same breakfast again but in a different resturant by the river.

We hire a tuk tuk for the day to driving us around for the day. We went to the caves by the river. a bit of a let down really. it wasn't quite a cave as only 5 mins walk inside the cave you have to turn back. The caves were full of budha statues. yet, one of them was a bit spooky. a bit like tomb. young kids selling little birds inside a tiny little cage selling USD 1 each, which i dun find it too comfortable to see. not sure if it worth a 2 hour ride.

Another 2 hrs ride we arrived the waterfall. the lonely planet says the water is turquoie color n ppl can swim there. Yet, it is now rainny season. The waterfall was too powerful and strong that we could hardly get any closer. We managed to climbed up pretty high along the mountain trying to find some swimming pond. no luck. the water was too muddy due to the rain and the climb was fucking bloody slipery. I sliped seriously couple times, which my luxury havianas were broke into 2parts and my bag was complete wet. Yak!!!

Haven't said that it was beautiful and the water, thou icy cold, was very refreshing. i believe it would be much better in the dry season. We had some good laugh thou. Seeing people falling over was hilarious.

sunset evening in Luang Prabang

Day 8 evening, after we came back from the elephant ride, a serious clean up seemed urgently neccessary. We went to Wat Phu Si (yes, dun question how it pronouce because it does prononce exactly what you think). Apparently it is the best place to take a good look at the Luang Prabang town.

It wasn't quite a sunset as what i told thou. It was blocked by the trees, which we could barely see it. The town view, however, was the best place you can see everything. Luang Prabang is quite a big town (bigger, not really BIG big) compare to where i've been so far in Laos. We hung out there for bit, took some pictures (frens were patiently waiting for me to get my camara set...)

Oh! It was a long stair walk to the Phu Si hill. Remember don't smoke before the walk otherwise, you would have a headache. It worth to walk up to see this town thou. Very fresh air here n from time to time, you can smell that bbq chicken. so yummy.

Elephant day

Day 8 - the elephant day!! Woke up at 8am again this morning. I had mixed friut + honey + yogurt + museli <- not sure about spelling. very healthy n refreshing :D

Our elephant tour started at 130pm, which included 30 mins sitting on the bench of the back of the elephants n 20 mins ridding on the elephants bare back + bathing them in the river. The elephant i was riddng was called Bouham, a 25 yr old female elephant. She was super obedient n pretty big. The weather was good, not too sunny n didn't rain. walking thru the jungle was a pleasant ride.

The fun part was riddng bare back back to the river n bath them. Most of the time the elephants were sitting on the river, but everytime when the trainers said some Laos instruction (not sure is Laosian or some secret codes, i couldn't understand anyway...) they dived their heads into the water. Suddenly wer became riding a submarine n diappeared above water with them. Remind you that the elephants also poo in this river as well. In fact, there were poo floating on the river as one of the big fellars jus finished his business.

The elephants were clean after a day's work but we were dead muddy. It was awesome fun thou. must try it when you have the chance :)

Luang Prabang!!!

Day 7 530pm, 7 days of travelling finally brought me to my first destination Luang Prabang! Love it! It is a bit like a bigger version of pp island. Chill and relax. We thought we were smart by picking the closest guest hse on the boat. Would run straight to secure our rooms as it was a full boat. We missed the corner n we walked another 25 mins before realizing it. i was carrying a 20kgs bag at my bag. feeling like a complete donky. it was no shit hard work. we couldn't find a tuk tuk. when we finally managed to get one, he didn't know where that guest house is. The one we picked called Pakham, but there is also Baukham, Pekham guest house in town. We were wonderng around n finally found it after the duno where to took us tuk tuk ride. Pakham was FULL!! Now we were screwed. We had no idea where to go. We tried quite a few guest houses n they were all full. my back was gonna back forward n i gonna walk in 4 legs, seriously. So typical fucked up situation, it started raining!!! hurray!! that was exactly what i needed :_

At last we finally managed to find another guest house by the mekong river with hot shower n air con. (yes, my standard of a comfy room has been dropped lower n lower to jus hot shower n a fan would be more than happy. m turning to a backpacker, yea?)

After 7 days of travelling, i finally feel relaxed n holiday. Could never imagine how long it took me to my first planned destination.

Anyway, it is a very nice town. Glad there aren't too many travellers here at the low seaon right now, but good enough to keep this town busy and lively.

We went to a Laos resturant near the night mkt for dinner. i had a cocktail and fried bamboo with chicken + sticky rice. i finished the whole bowl of rice... feeling vey satisfied. After that, I went to the internet cafe where jus next to our guest hse for another hour, then bed time i went.

Second day on the slow boat

Day 7, second day on the boat. Woken up by a bloody cock, who was doing what they do in the morning. So loud!!!! repeatedly non stop until my alarm went on at 630. So wanted to turn him to McNuggles for breakfast.

Electricity still not on until another 15mins. I had to clean up in the dark. The electricity went off again at 730, so we had to rush finishing everything require light as quickly as possible. Rushy rushy

It was a cloudy morning. We had breakfast by the river. I jus had toast n coffee. My belly is getting bigger n bigger. i wonder when is gonna burst...

Different travellers had their version of boarding time. from 8am to 1030am. We reached port at 8, found a good spot of seats again, waited for another 1.5 hr before our journey started again. This boat however, was much narrower. Yesterday we came in early so our bags were put at the very bottom, which we became almost last people to get our bags. This time, we came up with new strategy. We hold our bags with us until the last min before the dock was fully loaded. But my bag is far too damn heavy. I silently betrayed my frens n jus stuffed it where ever it would be. Of course, we were again, almost the last group could get the bags... :P

It was another 8 hours boat ride. God! We managed to re-arrange the benches trying to make everyone comfortable as possibily can. There were life jkts on the boat, how reassuring...

A nite in Pak Beng

Day 6 afternoon, we arrived Pak Beng for a nite before continuing our journey to Luang Prabang 8am in the morning. I suddenly found myself live like a farmer here. go to bed at 10pm n wake up at 7am... I thought it would be chill n holiday, but not yet so far.

We had a long walk in Pak Beng. Another small village, mainly a stop by for travellers on the slow boat on the way to Luang Prabang. There were locals trying so hard to sell us guest rooms at the pier, but other than that, the Laos people here are jus as friendly as others we met before. Everyone saying hello to everyone, how warm is that?

There were many kids in this village n they love pictures. They grabed me n kept asking me to take pix for them all the way. Too many kids at a time, i got stepped many times.

After a long walk, we found a resturant nearby our guest hse for dinner, which it had a tiny little puppy so cute to resist not to eat there. The food was amazingly good. We had curry, fried vermecilli (my favourite), sweet n sour port (you will hear this dish from me many times...) and sticky rice (so bloody good!!), all yummy. Laos food is really tasty. Only HK$71 i had a super dooper full belly :P

We stayed at the Villa Salika, not quite a villa really. I shared a room with Selina, one of the british girls. USD3.5 per nite per head. It said it has hot water but i couldn't find that secret hot water button anywhere in the room. (Later i realized those hot water they meant was those in the cattle, which we normally use for boiling tea...huh? so little hot water for shower? ng hai gwai??) Anyway, i had a fucking freezing shower that nite, not pleasant at all.

The electricity went off for the whole town at 11pm. When i was writting my diary, everywhere including my room went complete black. couldn't see shit even with my eyes opened. Fan went off as well. Super hot. backpackers experience.

First day on the slow boat

Day 6 of travelling. The slow boat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang is 20 hours in total. The boat ride has been divided into 2 days, stoped by Pak Beng for a nite then continue the final 8 hours the next day.

745am got ready this morning catching the 1030 boat from Huay Xai. I had a Laos breakfast, which included fried noodles, a nestle cafe n a banana shake.

We were waiting for about 2 hours before the boat actually left port at 11ish. We were shocked how many ppl suddenly showed up from nowhere getting on board. We were early so we managed to get some nice spots on the boat. Those benches on the boat were terribily uncomfortable. Better bought your own cushion, like me :)

The Mekong river is very brownish, guess tat's because it's fresh water. The mountain view however, is beautiful. it did rain a bit but only cleared up the air n the sky made it more refreshing. After 6 hours on the boat thou, i didn't find it too amazing anymore. because it all look jus the same?

I am lucky, i bumped into a good mix of travellers. We played cards n mostly chatting on the way. It was a mild journey on the boat, nothing too exciting. There were all kind of travellers on the boat, young ones, old ones, few hippies, couple families, etc.

The boat had a toilet, a western style one. YET, not quite as expected as what a western toilet should be. i wanted to take a pix of the toilet to show you guys but i would look like a complete freak. In my own description, it was very tiny n very low. no flush. we had to flush using the river water from the tank next to the toilet. Needless to say, the floor was wet. I hate wet feet!!! sorry, you may not really want to know how the toilet looked like, but if you stuck on a boat like me for 6 hours, you would become very obssesed about anything, everything here.

First nite in laos

Day 5 of travelling, finally arrived Laos (border). I have been out of civilazation for couple days, so can only update my journey until I arrived luang Prabang. But I m continuing my travel diary from day 5.

Woke up 745 in the morning Chiang Mai to catch the 830 bus at the Arcade bus station to Chiang Khong (the thai border to Laos). It was a 6 hours bus. I grabed some stewed chicken balls n sausages at the station n there I started. It was a plesant ride. quite comfy actually. There were few stops I can go toilet n had an ice-cream on the way.

Arrived Chiang Khong at around 345pm. Shared a tuk tuk with a German tourist. Less than 5 mins we arrived the pier. We were lucky we jus missed the rain. The sky was super blue and amazingly beautiful. We took a long tail to cross the Mekong river. Timelessly I m in Laos. (YAY!!) Here I was in Huay Xai (the laos border)

The first impression is ppl are indeed very friendly. I learnt how to say "hello" (Sa ba di) and "thank you" (kap chai) soon after i arrived the immigration.

Me and 3 british girls and a pair of british couple walking along the main road n decided to stay at the Amarid gst hse. It is 200m away from the slow boat river. The guy in the hotel was super friedly n helpful. A lot advise how to avoid being ripped off n where to stay in Pak Beng (our next destination before arriving Luang Prabang).

After settling down, we went for food. We had that super juicy bbq duck n beer laos. That was delicious :D It was so far my most tasty meal in this trip. Only HK$25 each! We then walked up to the Wat Jom Khao Manilat, a temple overlooks the town n the river, which was contructed in 1880. The monks were super friendly. We took pix of them n they took pix of us. There was one monk with tattoo all over his arm n smoking a fag while chatting with us. How awesome!!

Later the evening we chilled out at a bar by the river checking out our first sunset in Laos. Very calm n very quiet this town. (apart from those laos pop music they were playing at the background...)

We had an early nite. Outside started pissing again, non stop whole nite. It was only 930pm, but it was bed time for me now.