Imaginative blog title #25

So, I'm lying in a hammock on a tranquil sunny island in the middle of the Mekong and armed with nothing more than a limited use of the English language and my questionable jokes I will attempt to write a blog that is worthy of this beautiful country. Here goes.....

We crossed into Northern Laos 2 weeks ago at the Chang Khong/Huay Xai border crossing. After one night in the quiet border town we boarded a slow boat (2 days) bound for Luang Prabang. The scenery in Northern Laos is up there with the best we have seen on our trip. We spent a total of 14 hours on the boat with it's very unforgiving wooden seats but it was well worth the pain in the arse! The landscape in the second day was even more beautiful than the first as the Mekong winds it's way through rugged limestone peaks and karst outcrops.
In the late afternoon we reached world heritage listed Luang Prabang where Buddhism reigns supreme (Yay! More Wats!). Situated on a raised tongue of land that stretches into the muddy confluence of the Khan and Mekong rivers, Luang Prabang is a sleepy French-Lao town where everybody wears a smile. We spent 3 days there but thinking back now its hard to remember exactly what we did with them. We went to a big ol' waterfall one day complete with plunge pool, rope swing and jumping rocks. The rest of the time we spent walking/cycling around enjoying the ambiance and majestic views. We also met back up with Gary, Neil and Rosie and met a whole bunch of new people who we would spend a good deal of time with whilst in Laos.

After a 5 hour bus ride down highway13 the jagged karst pedestals of Vang Vieng loomed into view, shadowing a bend in the West bank of the Nam Song river, a tributary of the Mekong. Many would say that Vang Vieng is over touristy and, to be fair, many would be right. However, it is a damn cool spot to enjoy the scenery and chill out for a few days. We spent 6 nights there, went tubing twice, did some rockclimbing and hired motorbikes to see the surrounding area. Tubing, for those who don't know, is a cracking 'sport' which involves sitting in a giant inner tube, floating down the river and stopping off at the odd bar or 9. Great fun. Highly recommended.

After Vang Vieng it was on down to the Laotian capitol, Vientiane. Lacking the beautiful landscape of the North, and having been virtually destroyed in 1828 by order of Rama III of Siam, Vientiane hasn't got a great deal to offer tourists. So after staying there one night (we went bowling. I was rubbish) we caught a night bus down to the market city of Pakse- a stop off point for visiting the Bolaven plateau. We arrived into Pakse in the early morning and set about finding a room and hiring a motorbike for the day. By 10 o'clock we were merrily on our way to the Bolaven plateau, a beautiful claw-shaped highland fortress of forests, rivers and waterfalls.

From Pakse it was a short sawngthaw and boat trip down to Don Det where you find me in my hammock. Don Det is just one of the Si Phan Don (four thousand islands), a 30 mile section of the Mekong littered with inhabited islands. Here the river widens to almost 9 miles before narrowing again at the Khone falls. This is our 4th (and final) day on the island where we have mostly been relaxing. We are a good way from most of the guesthouses and barring the early-rising cockrells it is veritable halcyon.

Well, there you have it. That wasn't as long as I thought it would be and is just about as good a job as I can do I'm afraid. For a more informative and informed view of the Indochina region I recommend The Indochina chronicles by Phil Karber. Or better yet, go there yourself. Seriously, you won't be disappointed.

Tomorrow we head back to Thailand for a bit of shopping before flying to Hong Kong on the 26th. Right, I'm off to check the internet to find out what the England Croatia score was.
Bummer. Ah well as a wise woman once told me "it's only football".

xx Matt xx