Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng

I'm falling behind on these blogs again and i have so much to write.

Ok, Luang Prabang, i wish wish and triple wish i could spend a couple of weeks here just to chill out and take in the french colonialness. It's a world heritage city and it's so easy to see why. There are cafes and french buildings mixed between Buddhist temples. I stayed with Sean and Maureen and stayed at SpicyLaos Hostel. It was an awesome place to stay and the owner Pong gave a talk about Buddhism which was really interesting. I've lived in Buddhist countries for a couple of years now and still didn't know much about it all. So it was go to hear from somebody that lived in a temple for 6 years and although still Buddhist has let his hair down (literally). Luang Prabang is one of those cities where all you need is a book and just chill at a cafe on the Mekong river. That's how i spent most my days. I didn't bother going to the waterfall there but instead chilled out. On my last day I got a bike and went for a ride for a few hours. Laos is like many countries in Asia, there is the extremes of rich and poor. However, unlike most countries I've visited the poor although having a meager lifestyle do seem to build a life for themselves and there is very little in the way of begging (perhaps this is more the communist influence). Wooden hats are the accommodation of choice and Beer Laos can be seen on every corner. There are numerous charities around promoting education mostly. There is also a lot of European donors. In one day i went past the Luxembourg - Laos Hospital, French Hospital, EU reconstruction office as well as dutch, Belgian, Spanish and Italian influences. I guess although politically this is a very communist country (curfew at 11;30) but economically it is moving through the capitalist steps.

We got a bus to Vang Vieng in the evening which was more than eventful, going over land slipped roads and being held up my gunmen carrying rifles wanting to get on our bus. The driver though was having none of it and with the assistance of our armed security guards we avoided a more dangerous situation. It was certainly a story to brag about. HEHE!!

Vang Vieng until a decade ago didn't really exist. It's a backpackers haven mostly due to the tubing there. Tubing is essentially getting a big inflatable tire and floating down the river to different bars and taking part in the slides and zip lines that send you hurtling into the water. It was an amazing day and would advice anyone to do it. I'm not a big swimmer but i did the 10m jumps and also the zip line. I badly bruised myself the first time but my camera man missed it so i had to do it again (video is coming when i get to a good computer) and still can't hear properly of one ear and got a bruised eye and to hefty knocks to my arm and leg. It's all gravy!! There is nothing Laos in this town but for the tubing alone i would come back.

On my travels I've taken many different forms of transport; bus, train, boat, plane, bike, car, walked and now kayaked. We kayaked down from Vang Vieng to Vientiane with the aid of a tuk tuk. The rapids were awesome but my German driver wasn't so good. We sunk twice because of going into waves side ways. Half way down we stopped at a rock for an amazing barbecue that we ate of banana leafs. Was an nice moments. Then the slight stupidity came again. The Lao guide suggested that we can jump in the river from this rock. Some of us (all guys) walked up to a 15m high rock. Now the river is deep but has a strong strong current. Giving that my swimming is as good as a blind rabbit I really should of known better. Once it was my go i couldn't exactly stop so i jumped. Now normally you don't have time in the air to think about your stupidity but I had time to think IDIOT!!! and smacked the water full pelt. My the time i got to the surface i was 20-30 m now the river already and flapped my arms as quick as possible until i got to the rocks. Although I hated every second of it you do get an amazing adrenaline buzz and i don't regret it at all. We carried on down the river to the capital of Laos, Vientiane.