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  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    2
    Day 97

    Day 97

    May 12 in Laos ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    Thakek Loop Day 2

    I ended up waking up quite early before alot of people which was nice as a I grabbed a nice breakfast of (good) bread and butter and jam, with scrambled eggs, and a mango smoothie. I didn't waste alot of time and got going as most people were starting to wake up. This was good as I was ahead of the mass amount of people all heading out at a similar time.

    The first part of the day was driving past the dead tree artificial lake which lent itself to some really cool looking pictures. Unfortunately, being eager to go and distracted by the lake meant i didn't realise I had pretty much left this morning on an "empty" tank of fuel. I say "empty" as the guages are never that reliable and you never really know how much you have left. Unfortunately, I had hit a hilly stretch of road that didn't have any villages to sell fuel for over 20km which was a bit stressful as the hills burnt fuel twice as fast and I didn't know if I could make it 20km with my gauge at the very bottom.

    I got to a checkpoint and they said that fuel was 4km away which made me a bit more hopeful as I knew I could walk 4km if worst came to worst. Luckily, I made it and managed to get some fuel without running out and having to face those issues. In my focus on my fuel I accidently missed the first stop of the day which was some roadside Buddhas carved into some sandstone. Back past the same checkpoint, I ran into the Swedish dude going the normal way, saying he see a big snake at the Buddha statues which I was excited to look for. Unfortunately, no snake but some really cool looking carvings and they really were roadside, I didn't even need to get off my scooter.

    The next stop was Dragon Cave in which I met up again with the Swede and a couple German dudes who were at our dinner table last night. We explored the cave together which required a little bit of ducking but we found these super weird little spindly hair things hanging from the ceiling which none of us knew what they were but they looked cool glowing in the light of our torches. At the exit there was a proper viewpoint which required an actual bit of hiking and god damn those Germans were fast it was actually a little hard to keep up. At the top we got a really nice view but absolutely no shade which meant we didn't stay long as it was getting HOT. On the way out, we got given some free cold water and the 4 of us rode together which felt like we were in a cool little motorcycle gang. The Germans are a bit crazy though so it wasn't long until they had zoomed off and left me and the Swede to cruise at a bit more of a relaxing pace.

    We all met back up at the "Cool Pool" which was a natural little lagoon and swimming spot where locals would come and have picnics and barbecues. We were there for a quite a while mostly jumping from rocks into the pool, then using the trees to swing from the steep bank into the pool. One of the German guys was practicing his backflip, the other was too heavy and acted as support, the Swede was taking photos on his camera, and I was practicing my half backflips where I exclusively land on my neck and back - the 2 most painful things to land on from my experience. We must have been properly ahead of everyone else that day as for the couple hours we were there only 2 loopers showed up.

    After making the most of it and not quite ripping the branch we were swinging off down, we headed out to grab some lunch. A quick and simple fried rice later (it was the only option) we were ready to keep going onto our town for the night. As usual, the Germans sped off and the Swede and I made our way up through some windy inclined at a nice sensible pace until we caught up to them at a roadblock. Turns out we happened on a piece of road that must landslide quite alot so they had an operation set up with loads of diggers to clear it. Every 30 minutes they would let the flow of traffic through and then start working again and we had just missed an open cycle and had to wait another 30 minutes. This was fine as there was a decent view and I set up my bike so I could lie down on it and sort of lean against a broken tree too. It wasn't super comfy but better than nothing. Unfortunately though the sun was baking everything in its path so we all took shelter under the small umbrella the worker had for himself so we didn't spontaneously combust in the sun. Eventually we got going down the mountain pass, skipping the viewpoint as we had just been at the same view a couple hundred meters back for half an hour.

    We got into the town called Na Hin, and me and the Swedish dude end up sharing a 2 bed room together as it was cheaper. I thought it was quite funny that we were sharing a room and I couldn't remember his name and he probably couldn't remember mine either. I chilled for a while outside on the bench and the wind started picking up, as well as the sky started to grey over which meant it was gonna rain and probably quite alot as it didn't rain yesterday. After joining one of the German guys in with his workouts, we all decided we should try and head to the "Rock Viewpoint" (a viewpoint with a restaurant attached so we didn't need to do any hiking) 15 minutes away and get a drink before it started to rain. Luckily, we all arrived just before a massive torrential downpour started - literally a minute later and we would have been soaked. We didn't go to the actual viewpoint but it was still a decent view of the "limestone forest" which interestingly used to be the at the bottom of the sea millions of years ago and formed slowly over those millions years from dead creatures.

    When the rain broke we decided we'd try and get back before it started again, but luckily it didn't the whole journey back. The Swede and I drove very slowly down as it was wet and very dark and we could barely see but the crazy Germans being crazy Germans sped down the mountain road back down to the guesthouse miraculously without any crashes which is crazy to me as I have no idea how they could even see the road. We headed to the restaurant attached to our guesthouse and played some pool here I proved once and for all how terrible I am at pool. After that we had some really nice dinner before it was time for the world's worst shower and time for bed.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    Day 96

    Day 96

    May 11 in Laos ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Thakek Loop Day 1

    Right I'm on my flight back home so let's see if I can catch up on a week's worth of posts before touchdown.

    After a chaotic awakening at 3am by some people breaking a fan, I woke up at a more normal time and got some breakfast. I ordered the French baguette with butter and jam but it came as hard as a brick so is definitely up there in one of the worst breakfasts so far. I didn't want the semi automatic bikes to run out so I asked to rent a bike and a very reliable sounding rental company "Pokemon Go" came and deliverer me a beautiful blue Honda Wave. I packed my bag and went to head out on the start of my 4 day journey. I had never ridden a semi automatic bike before but apparently its pretty simple so I thought I could just ride off but turns out I had no idea why I needed a kick starter (turns out I didn't?) and that I needed to take it out of neutral (I'm a genius I know). A quick YouTube video later and I was off. I swapped my helmet for a better one and picked up a strap to keep my bag in the basket and grabbed some snacks from the shop before filling up on fuel.

    Finally, 4 stops later I was actually off and starting on my way out of Thakek at 10am. The first little stint is along a section of road called "Cave Alley" named after having a bazillion caves every couple meters. Another thing this road had was a shit ton of lorries as it was went between borders of Vietnan and Thailand and also joined onto the road up to Vientiane so honestly it wasn't that fun driving alongside these 100x bigger and heavier death machines chugging along. I had already seen alot of caves in Vietnam so I felt like I didn't need to stop at every cave and only the ones I thought would be different enough.

    I ended up skipping quite a few, Elephant Cave (on purpose), Buddha Cave (on accident), and Xiengliab (after meeting a Swedish guy who had just come out and said it was a pretty much just a cave. We rode together to a swimming hole super closeby called Falang. We had come to realise that the reason that the loop was recommended for 4 days wasn't because the length of the driving but the amount of stops. This was fine but honestly I was hoping to relive some of my Cao Bang Loop glory days and cruise through beautiful landscapes. Don't get me wrong, there were some beautiful cliffs about but I felt like I couldn't really get "in" to the driving as there were pretty consistent stops all the way around.

    The swimming spot was nice, a bunch of little huts along the river and it wasn't too busy and felt nice to cool off. As I said before, the thunderstorms yesterday meant we had nothing but beautiful blue skies today so it was quite warm. Unfortunately, after along about a minute of floating around I cut my foot open on a rock and had to pull myself back onto the little hut and patch myself up. Generously, the Swedish guy (I knew his name at one point but it's long gone in my mind now) lent me some heavy duty tape that worked as a makeshift bandage to keep the plaster on my foot. As we were leaving, we were stopped by a couple of monks who asked us to take pictures with them which I think is pretty funny.

    There were 2 more cave closeby that I thought I probably should stop at as I hadn't stopped at any caves so far in Cave Alley. Unfortunately though, the first one Pha Nya In was closed which just left Nong Aen Cave for me to explore. This cave was pretty cool though as it was lit up with lots of different coloured LEDs which made it feel a bit different to the rest of them. There was also a boat ride through it but I think it wasn't running today maybe because of the water level and the season. Plus, there was small viewpoint which was nice.

    In my head, if I kept going along the route now I would get to my guesthouse for the night way too early. That combined with being sick of seeing other people, I decided to go slightly off route to a town called Mahaxay to find some lunch as a river passed through it and I reckoned I could find a nice spot. The road wasn't long but was a horribly bumpy gravel track which I still don't think my spine has forgiven me for. Plus, when I got there I couldn't find a single restaurant so ended up buying some rice wrapped up in banana leaves and a mango to substitute as a lunch, with some of my snacks. I found a really nice spot along the river in a wooden hut to eat my food. The rice was horrible, it had something inside that I kept trying to convince myself was alright but I kept having to alternate with slices of mango just so I could get it down. I ended up not finishing the rice but the mango was fantastic and I felt like I had mastered cutting slices.

    I did a little photoshoot of my bike and the background before heading back along the terrible road and getting on the main loop. I had gotten used to the semi automatic now and was really enjoying the versatility of gears even if breaking with my foot was weird still. My thinking earlier about needing to waste time was absolutely wrong and turns out if I didn't want to drive in the dark, I'd have to skip some stuff which was fine, I enjoyed my little adventure and it meant I was behind the loose group of people that left this morning from Thakek and felt more solo. I stopped at a viewpoint instead of more caves or a waterfall as I didn't need more caves and I don't think the waterfall would have been as good as the viewpoint this time of year but would have been nice if I had time.

    The viewpoint was at an abandoned waterpark which was really eerie but I paid this random dude and parked up before heading up these red metal stairs. The stairs up were really good to be fair and after briefly passing through a little cave and continuing up, I made it to the top and had enough time to snap a couple pics before having to almost run down as I needed the toilet really bad. When I got to the bottom I had a semi traumatic experience in the abandoned waterpark toilet before heading onwards. I stopped at a café and had some samosas (they didn't have any spring rolls) before realising I had no more time to stop today if I wanted to make it before sun down which was a bit of a shame as there was the "Orchid Path Viewpoint" which sounded nice.

    The place I was staying at was called Thalang and was a town that stood on the edge of a massive artificial lake which was known for its very eerie looking sea of dead tree trunks rising up through the water. All of the environmental and social issues of building a dam and flooding a large amount of land displacing animals and villages aside - when the sun was setting over this lake it was absolutely stunning and I had to keep stopping to take pictures of the beautiful sunset. There were a few guesthouses all in the same area but the main one was called Sabaidee (hello in Lao) and was where everyone went in the evening as they had a well known unlimited barbqueue that I was excited for. After checking in and getting one of the last dorm beds available, I got a beer and got ready to enjoy a nice BBQ.

    The evening was really nice. Lots of people sat around with a beer, lots of really yummy BBQ things (mostly kebab sticks) and we ended the night with a good few rounds of curling without ice (I can't remember the name of the game where you have to throw your balls closest to the smaller ball and whoever is closest wins).    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    2
    Day 95

    Day 95

    May 10 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Vang Vieng > Thakek

    Inspired by all the paramotors flying around the in the sky yesterday, and the $70 price, I thought fuck it, and booked on to the "sunrise" paramotor. It was a bit risky because my bus was at 9am and this was meant to leave at 6am. The guy told me it was only 1 hour and I'd be back at 7am but I wasn't convinced. I waited at the office for about 10 minutes before hopping in the back of a tuktuk with 3 other people and we headed to wherever we were heading to. We had to sign some forms, put on a bright red jumpsuit, and wear a helmet but after that we were ready to fly. Unfortunately, the paramotors weren't ready and we had to wait around until about 6.50 for the first set of flights. So much for making it back for 7. There were 4 of us and 2 paramotors so I waited for the first pair to do their flight before I got to go. Luckily, it was only about 5 minutes before the end of the first set and the start of our flights. We got given a gopro attached to a selfie stick thing to record our flight but honestly I wanted to enjoy it instead of focusing on recording the whole time.

    The big fans revved up and before we knew it we were up and in the air. The total flight time was a out 20 minutes and was really beautiful. We did a small loop over the fields aswell as up and close with the mountains. There was no sunrise to speak of because of the clouds but it was still beautiful regardless. Plus, I got maybe the coolest picture of me ever taken. We landed smoothly and were given some paper certificates to write our own names on to mark a successful flight. We made our way back and I got back just before 8am so I had some time to eat a quick breakfast and brush my teeth before saying my final goodbye to Michelle as I was on my way to Thakek and she was not. It had been a nice couple of weeks travelling on and off with her but it was time for me to finish off my travels solo.

    I headed to the bus office and got picked up by a tuktuk to be taken to the big bus that would take me to Thakek. I think this bus left around 10am and we made our way South. I had to change bus in Vientiane which was a bit annoying but gave me some time to grab some food and some snacks before our next bus from Vientiane to Thakek. We got in another tuktuk to take us to the next bus and after being given our tickets we were loaded onto the bus. Pretty much everyone on the bus was doing the Thakek loop so I would end up bumping into alot of these people again over the next few days.

    It was quite a long bus, leaving Vientiane around 1pm and arriving at roughly 8pm. The bus was okay but didn't have alot of leg room, and I managed to chat with a couple people around me to pass the time as my phone was running pretty low on battery and I needed a little bit of charge to make it to my hostel so had to ration wisely. For alot of our journey it was raining quite heavily outside and there was loads of thunder and lightning. This is pretty normal for rainy season in Laos but because there was so much probably boded well for the next couple days as there would be less rain. The only issue is my seat was underneath the emergency exit hatch and it wasn't very waterproof so I periodically got dripped on.

    We arrived at the bus station and it was absolutely tipping it down. We all crammed into a few tuktuks, with me being right at the front half in, half out with the driver. Luckily he dropped me right to my hostel and with a few percent left on my phone charge. I pay the tuktuk guy and check in. I plug my phone in and order some dinner and have a beer with a Dutch guy who was also at the hostel as neither of us fancied venturing out into the rain for some food. The yellow chicken curry I had was pretty nice, and the Dutch guy had a really nice looking duck bruschetta. After dinner I chilled for a little while on the covered roof, watching the lightning fill the sky before having a shower and heading to bed. Unfortunately mid shower there was a power cut because of the storms so had to shave and shower using my phone torch which was definitely fun.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    1
    Day 94

    Day 94

    May 9 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Vang Vieng

    You know the drill, nice breakfast blah blah blah. Yesterday, we booked a buggy for 2 hours for no other reason than they looked awesome and I wanted to do some fun driving. We get picked up around 10am and taken to a yard where there were a few buggies parked up. We get given the keys to a small 2 seater buggy and told to head in a direction and go. Honestly, when we booked it, we thought it was more of a guided buggy tour where they show you some fun spots to drive like an idiot but I guess not. Also, we were meant to be given goggles and dry bags but we were given a rickety buggy with only 1 seat belt but that didn't stop me from having a good time. We set out towards a circuit through around the mountains where most the lagoons and viewpoints were, still not really sure what or where we were meant to be doing or going. We passed some other buggies who had the full set up, along with some race car style seat belts but oh well, gotta make the most of the 2 hours we have.

    The acceleration wasn't very good as it was a weird combo of a semi automatic gear stick but worked like an automatic which was really confusing but I eventually got used to it. Plus, the brakes were really shitty and sometimes the accelerator pedal got stuck down. But other than that, it was as good as new! I got my first opportunity to drift around a gravel road corner which felt super bad ass but Michelle wasn't a fan so I had to tone it down a bit. We got to a bridge where there was an alternative path down through a shallow river for heavy vehicles and I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I turned around and prepared myself to head down the slope, through the river, and back up the other side. We got absolutely soaked but for me it was worth it as that felt awesome. Michelle didn't close her dry bag though, so all of her stuff as well as my stuff got pretty wet. After delicately placing my wet paper money in a plastic bag, I handed my stuff to Michelle and whilst she stood outside, I went for round 2 through the river. Somehow, I got even more wet the 2nd time but still, was well worth it. Afterwards, we headed to Lagoon 2 to meet up with Kasper and Rasmus who were chilling on some loungers. We didn't have much time so I quickly went for a swim then jumped off a big platform into the Lagoon.

    The lagoons are absolutely awesome as they're super clean, super blue, and super deep which allow you to do some fun stuff into the water. Unfortunately, we had to rush off as we needed to return our buggy. With no time for tomfoolery, we got our buggy back to the yard with 1 minute to spare then had to wait around for 15 minutes to be picked up and taken back to our hostel. Luckily, the open air of the buggy had pretty much dried me off but we asked if we could sit in the bed of the truck on the drive back which was a goal of mine in Laos and I'm very happy I did because it felt awesome.

    When we got back, we changed into some drier clothes, as well as lying out all my money and passport to dry, before I gave a bunch of clothes to be washed, then we headed back to the same place as yesterday for some lunch as it was really good the day before. Afterwards, we rented a scooter and we still wanted to see some more lagoons and go to a viewpoint for sunset. Due to my timeline, I could only spend 1 full day in Vang Vieng which is a shame as I would have loved to spend more time exploring the lagoons and viewpoints without having to rush around.

    We headed along the highway to Lagoon 4, meant to be out of the way and not very busy, though Lagoon 2 was pretty much empty earlier. The road was super weird to drive on as I'm pretty sure it was half melting in the heat but other than that, it was a super bumpy and not very comfortable ride. The track to the lagoon was even worse than the road and we managed to take the long way around but eventually we got there and it was surprisingly pretty busy. Not wanting to waste time, I changed into my signature LIDL swim shorts and jumped straight in. This lagoon was cool as it has a zip line into the water, as well as a rope swing, a falling apart wooden jumping platform, and a bunch of inflatable rubber tubes to float in.

    I did my fair share of zip lines and rope swings but one thing I've learnt is that I absolutely cannot do a flip from a swing and it really hurts when you slap down on the water on your neck or back - which I did repeatedly. Other than the pain, it was an awesome time, and again I wish we had more time but we had to drive 40 minutes to the viewpoint and make it up in time for sunset. We left quite late (my fault) so had less than ideal time to make it up the viewpoint in time for sunset. Our plan was to meet Kasper and Rasmus there but even us being 15 minutes late, they still weren't there so we started making our way the short but steep climb. All of a sudden Rasmus ran up and caught us up, saying he was late because an ATM swallowed his card and Kasper couldn't make it as he was feeling sick. We made it to the top in time to get our pictures on the in situ motorbike with the sunset in the background before the sun fell behind a cloud.

    We got to chill for a little bit at the top, but didn't want to walk down in the dark so made our way down, with me playing a game of the floor is lava and trying to climb down as much bamboo hand rails as I could before I ran out of bamboo to climb on. We drove back to town in the dark, accidently driving the long way as I was driving the same way that I drove the buggy back but eventually we got back and had time to chill for a bit before meeting up with Rasmus and Kasper for dinner.

    We went to a seemingly nice restaurant that was riverside and had a nice candlelit vibe to the tables. Apparently they were known for their pizzas but I instead ordered some Lao food which was pretty horrible so I ended up ordering a pizza anyways which was decent but definitely not the best pizza I've had. With no time to go anywhere for dessert as everywhere seemed closed, I had to go without and head to bed instead.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    Day 93

    Day 93

    May 8 in Laos ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Luang Prabang > Vang Vieng

    After another great breakfast we packed our stuff and headed out to find a tuktuk driver to take us to the train station. I was unreasonably excited to be getting a train as I hadn't been on a train my whole time in Asia and it makes a nice change from the onslaught of busses I had been on. Plus, this was the fancy Laos-China railways funded by the Chinese so I knew it would be nice. We arrived about an hour early which was a bit more than we needed to but we had been warned that the security checks take a while. After showing them our tickets and our passports, we had to put all our baggage through a security scanner. We had been warned that we'd lose our aerosol suncreams which really sucked as it was $10 a can but luckily we managed to get through keeping our suncream and I even managed to keep my knife?

    We waited around in the lobby before the call was made for our train, everyone got up and got in a big queue to show their tickets, and by the amount of people it looked like the train would be pretty full then we realised there was about 1000 carriages so we didn't have to worry. The train ride wasn't too long, only about an hour with a random 5 minute stop on the tracks for some reason. We arrived in Vang Vieng and hopped on a shuttle bus to the town centre and checked into our room.

    We went on a little walk about to town and found some lunch at a nice little café before seeing some posters for a yoga class at 5pm. We went over to the yoga place and asked it if was suitable for beginners - well I say we but Michelle spent the whole time cuddling a fluffy dog - and they said kind of but the one in the morning would be better. Taking their advice, we headed back and went for a dip in the pool to cool off. Honestly the pool was a bit bleh and I think I cut my foot on a broken tile on the floor but oh well.

    We went on another walkaround at sunset, this time seeing a bunch of hot air balloons and paramotors flying through the air. This, against the mountainous backdrop was really quite cool to see flying through the air. We found a pineapple at a fruit market then found a small bar where we could grab a drink. I showed Michelle what the famous Blue Lagoon cocktail was, then we asked the bartender for a chopping board so we could cut up our newly acquired Pineapple which surprisingly went alot better than I expected - probably because she also gave us a much larger and sharper knife than mine. Ofcourse, I also brought my honey making for a tasty snack with the pineapple chunks.

    After our drink and pineapple, it started to rain so we ran across the road to a Thai restaurant called Happy Mango which happened to be packed. We got a table and I had a really nice green curry with coconut rice, followed by one of the best mango sticky rice's that I've had on my travels. After that, we headed back to our room and went to bed.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    12
    Day 92

    Day 92

    May 7 in Laos ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Kuang Si Waterfall

    After my getting back at 2am last night, it was pretty set that I wasn't gonna make it to see the monk walk at 5.30am. I woke up and met Michelle (who got back at 5am so was feeling a bit worse for wear) for breakfast at our hostel. I got a pancake with banana and honey but I added another banana and my own honey on top for an extra kick. That, with the unlimited fresh orange juice, I was a happy boy.

    I was gonna be solo today as Michelle had already seen the famous waterfall near Luang Prabang, so I rented a scooter and headed out towards the waterfall. On the way I picked up a mango but other than that it was a fairly uneventful drive except from the million potholes that lined the streets. It was like a "fun" game of dodge the massive hole in the street except some were too hidden to dodge in time so I had my fair share of painful bumps I wasn't ready for.

    About an hour later, I arrived and parked up. I had to get one of the electric buggies over but eventually I was there. I changed into my swimsuit and started hiking through the jungle. As a huge bonus to seeing a cool waterfall, on the trek was an entire bear sanctuary where you could see bears that had been rescued up close. There are 2 main bears in Laos known as "Sun Bears" and "Moon Bears" because of their distinctive yellow and white crescents on their chests. Unfortunately, bears in Laos are poached so they need to be kept in sanctuaries instead of roaming free which is a shame but allows people to see bears up close.

    I know bears are meant to be scary and dangerous but honestly some of these bears just looked like extra large dogs and I'd love to jump into their habitat and give them all a hug (it they wouldn't rip me up into tiny little bite size pieces). After spending a while watching the bears be bears, I kept walking up the path. The path itself was a lovely walk through the jungle but was made even better by the beautifully blue swim holes that made their way up to the main falls. The falls themselves were beautiful and there is some legend behind how they got their name and their shape but I can't exactly remember, all I remember is that an overhanging piece of rock that was part of the lore collapsed a few years ago.

    There was a pathway up the side of the main falls to the spring at the top which I very sweating ran my way up. I could have got a small boat to the actual spring but decided I'd go for a dip instead. The day actually wasn't as warm as it had been recently which meant the water was quite fresh and cold but it was nice regardless. There was a nice little swing that sat right above the water where small fish nibble your feet which I couldn't help but laugh at the feeling of. I dried off and headed back down the otherside and grabbed a smoothie at the bottom, I was gonna swim in another swimming hole but honestly it wasn't warm enough for me to jump back in after getting changed already. I walked past the bears again and spent a while longer watching them do their thing before heading out.

    It was time for lunch and I spotted a nice restaurant on the Mekong River on my way in so decided to get some food which was pretty good timing as it started to rain shortly after. I decided to wait out the rain, watching some Netflix, instead of heading to Nahm Dong Park like I originally wanted to as I didn't fancy driving and walking around in the rain. When the rain stopped I dried my seat and headed back to Luang Prabang.

    Michelle and I went for another walk, this time meeting again with Robert before heading to the same restaurant as yesterday for some dinner. After dinner, there was a bakery near the night market that had some amazing looking things that I spotted yesterday and I really wanted to go. I ended up buying a Danish and a chocolate custard cake to go, then we decided to head up to Phousi Hill. It was night now, so technically the entry to the hill was closed but we opened up the unlocked gate and made our way up the stairs. On top was a nice temple but more importantly (to me) was a bench with a nice view over the city lights for me to devour my sweet treats. We chilled at the top for a while, trying to be quiet as to not alert the monk that we assumed was in the little house at the top.

    After vibing for a while, we snuck past the house and made our way down the other side of the hill and said goodbye to Robert heading back to our hostel. It was now time for Michelle to show me how to cut up a mango properly given my terrible history - which in all fairness was much much better than my attempt. We enjoyed the mango and honey then headed to sleep.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    1
    Day 91

    Day 91

    May 6 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Kayak Trip 2

    I barely slept because of the thunderstorm in the night, the chickens at sunrise, and some mystery machine that made a whole lotta noise. Despite that I was feeling better and was ready for the day. Before breakfast, we end up playing football with some of the village kids for a while, and when it was time for breakfast I ended up giving them all a bunch of high fives which was really really cute.

    For breakfast we had some sticky rice and some other stuff but honestly I can't remember, but I had a sachet of light roast coffee which I'm sure had lots of creamer in, and honestly I think I've found the kind of coffee that I like. It's one of the few coffees I've ever had where I really enjoyed it and wanted more. I'm sure it also helped with the lack of good sleep too. We packed our things and said thankyou to our host then went to go paddling again. A bunch of the village kids had come to the bank to wave us goodbye and we were off.

    Today was a lot better than yesterday, I wasn't in as much pain which meant Michelle and I were able to get in sync much easier. Kasper ended up paddling super far ahead of us which meant we missed our planned lunch stop but that was fine because it had only been an hour or 2 since we had breakfast. When we caught up to Kasper we all ended up having a little lie down in our kayaks for a little bit as we were well ahead of schedule. It was really nice laying down with a life vest as a pillow and feet in the water, gently floating down the river. Unfortunately we didn't float very far but it was very relaxing nonetheless.

    We ended up getting sight of the dam that marked the end of our suffering / journey and as we approached the currents definitely picked up a bit, helping us along which meant we could float for a bit until we landed on the bank. When we had pulled our kayaks onto land and got them out of the way of the boat behind us uploading timber, we perched a seat on the logs and had a nice lunch of glass noodles wrapped in banana leaves. After a strangely comfortable lie down on the logs, it turns out we had boarded the wrong bank and had to get everything back onto the kayaks and paddle a little bit further towards the kayak to where the minibus was waiting for us. We had to haul our kayaks up from the water up a concrete ramp, up a small dirt verge then heave the kayaks up and onto the roof so they could be strapped down. The 2 person kayak especially was super heavy and didn't have a wheel to help go up the ramp and I somehow ended up carrying most the kayaks which was more work than the kayaking today.

    We hopped into our local bus and went towards Luang Prabang. Because I was helping strap the kayaks down, I was last in the bus which meant I was lucky enough to sit more towards the front and have a bit of AC and a window next to me which was more than the people behind me. After a while towards Luang Prabang, we pulled over and got the kayaks off the roof and dumped them on the side of the road to be picked up later and taken back to Nong Khiaw. Worse than getting the kayaks up was taking them down as there's a sudden moment where the weight suddenly drops down on you. Having built up a sweat, I grabbed some water and some snacks from the shop nearby and we kept going to Luang Prabang.

    When we arrived there was a bit of confusion with the directions as Google Maps directed us across a motorbike only bridge which our driver knew about but refused to look at my map and only wanted me to point forward or left which is why I ended up choosing wrong. He presumably started cursing me out in Lao so I handed my phone to the dude next to me so he could talk to the driver instead of me. We arrived and we got our bags down from the roof and said goodbye and thankyou to David before Michelle and I went to check in at our hostel.

    We chilled for a bit and showered before deciding to go for a walk to explore Luang Prabang. Michelle had already been before but I hadn't so we did a little loop of the main touristy bit so I could get a feel of the place. It was a nice little city with a night market and all kind of centrered around a temple on the hill called Phousi Hill (but hilariously pronounced with a P not a Ph sound). I was pretty sore so had decided I wanted a massage and they were super cheap so I couldn't resist. We found a cheap looking place and I went in. I went for a head, neck, shoulder, and back massage although a lot of the choices looked quite good. After my painful experience with a Thai massage I was a bit fearful of a Lao massage and decided against it. After cleaning my feet, my masseuse took me upstairs to the mats on the floor and I laid down and she started on my back and neck, as well a bit of my legs too. Then, she had my lie on her lap on a pillow and she massaged my head. This was the nicest and most relaxing feeling I had ever felt I almost fell asleep 3 times. At the end, she did this weird thing and cracked my back in the most satisfying way I've ever felt. And just like that, the most relaxing hour of my life was finished. I decided to tip her the price of the massage, that's how good it felt.

    Right after, I enjoyed some tea then headed out and met up with Michelle, Kasper, Rasmus, and Robert (the Scottish dude from Nong Khiaw) for some dinner at Kasper and Rasmus' favourite restaurant. They raved about a specific set of dishes that was the best thing ever so I blindly trusted them and let them order me some food. I ended up getting a pork laab salad, steamed rice, a Lao sausage (with a really weird jelly), and a mixed fruit shake. Honestly, it was okay but I'm not much of a salad guy and when mixing it with the rice it felt like it was missing a sauce. Still, it was really nice still. We had some beer with dinner and we decided that we would be going to the bowling alley as that was the 1 thing in Luang Prabang that a few of us hadn't done and wanted to do.

    The bowling alley was quite well known in Luang Prabang as it was open till 2am and was where everyone headed after everywhere shut around 10 or 11 if they wanted to keep the night going. Plus, it's bowling and who doesn't like bowling. 4 of us (minus Kasper as he was feeling a bit ill and tired) found a tuktuk driver (much different to the tuktuk in Cambodia) and got a lift over and it was a bit out of town. We grabbed a beer and played our first game. Around frame 7 Robert said that loser buys shots which I was not aware of and I am famously terrible at bowling. I was the last up and on the final bowl of my 10th frame I only had to knock down 1 more pin to tie with Michelle. Feeling the pressure, I lined up and bowled the most beautiful strike that has ever been bowled. Just kidding, I threw it straight into the gutter and turned and went straight to the bar and ordered 4 Lao Whisky as they were the cheapest shot on the menu. What I didn't know is Lao Whisky is basically happy water and made me feel incredibly ill as my stomach was still having flash backs to the Ha Giang Loop.

    What's awesome about Laos is I could order a pot noodle in the bowling alley for super cheap and have an awesome snack to have alongside my beer whilst playing bowling. Plus, it helped alot chasing the horrible Lao Whisky. For our 2nd game, now knowing that loser had to buy shots I decided to try and step up my game, unfortunately that meant do even worse than my first try and watch everyone do better. The only chance I had of not losing is if I scored 3 strikes in a row at the end. Feeling the pressure, I lined up and bowled the most beautiful strike that has ever been bowled. And this time I'm not lying I actually got a strike. When it came time for my 2nd and 3rd strike things collapsed a little bit and I went to buy my 2nd round. I ended up getting a cider and 3 shots of tequila as my stomach didn't want any more spirits. With that, alot of people started pouring in and filling up the alleys so we donated our lane to another group and sat around a table chatting.

    Eventually, Rasmus and I felt like heading outside for the post bowling event of archery. Because what's better than giving a bunch of drunk people a bow and arrow and very little supervision. Luckily I wasn't drunk but Rasmus and I lined up and scored a terrible round of archery, with only 4 of my 5 arrows hitting the board and, 3 of them being in the outer ring. Rasmus gained a sudden burst of energy and wanted to jump in with a group of people heading to the club but in the time that we went to grab Michelle and Robert, the tuktuk has gone and Rasmus wanted to head home to bed. We left Michelle and Robert to enjoy their night going clubbing whilst we went back to our hostels and went to sleep.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    2
    Day 90

    Day 90

    May 5 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Kayak Trip 1

    The day started like any other, a beautifully cooked breakfast. Today, however, I went for a beautiful Arabic Shakshuka with some fresh bread which absolutely hit the spot as, like yesterday, was something different for breakfast which was really nice. I, of course, grabbed a final smoothie from the usual spot to drink with breakfast and then Michelle and I checked out and headed to the tour office to begin the tour. We said sometime between 8 and half 8 to meet, as we wanted to leave at 9 but the boys ended up being a little bit late. We paid, stored our big bags and sorted our stuff into dry bags before meeting our guide for the next 2 days: David. David wasn't his real name but his nickname he chose to go by for Westerners. He introduced himself as "David like David Beckham" so we naturally called him David Beckham for the next 2 days.

    We went down the bank and boarded our kayaks. Michelle and I were sharing a larger kayak as it would be easier but Kasper and Rasmus decided to paddle solo - as well as David who didn't really have a choice to paddle solo. At first, it was lovely, we were kayaking along the river crusuing past the beautiful mountains and landscapes before we were told we were going too fast by David. We thought maybe he was struggling but he said we weren't taking in the landscape so we slowed right down and chilled. Then, he said we were going too slowly so we had to try and find a happy medium.

    Apparently David hadn't done a kayaking tour in 4 months as he was more of a trekking guide so I think that he was struggling a little to begin with and that's why we had to slow down for him which was quite funny considering he was our guide. His English was really good and apparently he watches alot of YouTube and TikTok and that's where he's learnt a lot of English from as they didn't really teach it in schools.

    We stopped at this small bank for a little brake where we all went for a swim to cool off and have a small snack. We got going again and asked "how far until lunch" and the answer we got was "not that far". This statement was infact a lie. It was very far - or atleast felt like it. David hadn't been back to his home village for a couple months so we were going a little bit further so we could go to his village for lunch and he could see his friends and family for a little bit. What he didn't mention is that it would be so far away.

    We asked again how much longer - "just around the corner" - then again "just in the distance" - then again "you can see the white house in my village!". By this point trust was gone. My neck and shoulders were in alot of pain and it hurt to keep paddling but I had to keep going. I couldn't wait just to lie down and stretch my neck out as it hurt so bad. The white house he kept saying we could see at first was nothing, then a tiny speck I wasn't sure was a building, it slowly got bigger until eventually we had arrived. From the first time David said "not that far" we had been paddling for over an hour until we got to his village and we were all so relieved.

    We parked up on the shore and we walked through the village to David's parent's house. All of the children of the village probably hadn't seen foreigners for months and were all fascinated by us. Usually we're greeted by lots of waving and hellos but this time they were all just following and staring at us. We got to his house and sat on some cushions on the floor whilst kids poked their heads through every single window in the house to stand and stare at us. After a little lie down, we all sat on the floor round a small table and enjoyed some fried rice wrapped in banana leaves that had been prepared for us that morning. After lunch, we all shared some Beerlao with David and his friends- whilst the Danish boys had some happy water which I chose to decline after the Ha Giang incident.

    After some more rest, we got going again kayaking. We weren't sure how far it was going to be so we were all dreading what was to come. On the way we went past a cliff where there were pictures of villages and cattle painted on the rock, made from climbing up trees and the locals dippings their hands or fingers in red paint. By now, the trees had fallen but it meant there were these ancient looking hand paintings of simple village life high up on the cliff wall which looked pretty awesome. As we paddled we got some of the best views we had gotten the whole journey so far, with some beautiful mountains and cliffs rising up right by the river. Unfortunately I didn't take alot of pictures as it meant I had to stop kayaking and undo my dry bag but I made sure to stop for this.

    Fortunately, we actually weren't that far from our homestay village which begged the question why we went so far before lunch and not far after. It made sense as David got to see his family but God I wish he lived closer to Nong Khiaw. I think we kayaked a total of 24km on day 1 and 18km were in the first stint which absolutely killed. When we arrived and docked it was also revealed that Rasmus' kayak was half filled with water as he was almost sinking and it took a few minutes for all of the water to pour out. Apparently he told David this and David said it was fine and Rasmus ended up struggling with the lack of bouyancy the rest of the way.

    We rocked up to our homestay and this really was a homestay. The upstairs area was designated for us and when we arrived there was only 1 bed in a small room that Michelle was designated. The rest of us only had the floor and a small mattress to sit and lie on. They would bring up more mattresses later but it was quite funny looking at a big empty wooden floor and a small folding mattress and thinking the 3 of us boys were sharing.

    We got invited by the homestay dude to go on a walk which we much obliged by and went to a small streak where it seemed all the locals where bathing and filling up their water bottles which was a little awkward as they were all in only towels. We followed a bit further along the trail through the jungle to go and see the spring which was quite important to the village as its where they went to get their water. Michelle and Kasper decided the walk was too off road for them and they didn't want to get tics so they turned back but Ramus and I powered on the next 10 meters to see the very underwhelming springs. We turned around back the way we came and went for a quick wash in the stream to freshen up.

    We walked back and met the others in our room upstairs. This was where Ramus decided to check for a thorn he thought he thought he got in his foot, and it turned out to be a LEACH. A bit freaked out I decided to check my feet even though I didn't feel anything and turns out I had a leach twice the size wedged inbetween my toes. Honestly, I started panicking, I wasn't sure if leaches gave diseases but I knew sure as hell I didn't want it sucking my blood either way. We weren't really sure what to do so I started calling for David to come save us but he ended up being in the shower. I tried to pull it off myself but it seemed to have a good hold of me. The homestay owner came upstairs, looked what was happening, then quickly hurried back downstairs. He grabbed some paper and slid the sheet under the leech to unhook it, then crushed the bastard.

    We were both now leach free but our feet kept bleeding nomatter how many times we tried to stop it, blood kept coming. It turns out when leaches bite you they thin your blood so that they can drink it and that's why it looks like there was so much blood. Also, apparently they don't carry disease which was a big relief and I was nowhere near a hospital, and didn't fancy kayaking to one. David came up and grabbed his first aid kit and gave us some cotton wool and a cleaning solution which stopped the bleeding, and gave us some plasters. We were left shocked and with a pile of bloody tissues but we had survived the fearsome attack.

    After the commotion we all sat down for dinner where we were treated to some fresh sticky rice, bamboo soup, and this egg / veg mix which was all really nice. The sticky rice is really fun to eat with as you tear off a chunk, roll it up into a nice ball then dip it in a sauce to eat. We were given chili sauce which was too hot to enjoy properly so I dipped it in my soup instead. We then didn't have a choice but to indulge in having a shot of happy water 1 by 1 and when it was my turn I felt like I was going to vomit and decided I did not want another one.

    When we finished we all chilled for a bit, with Kasper and I chilling on the floor on some cushions with the 2 kids of the house, and Kasper let them play some games on his phone. When we went up to bed they set up a lovely couple mattresses with pillows, blankets and bug nets which was really nice of them as I needed a good sleep after the abuse my neck and shoulders had been through.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    Day 89

    Day 89

    May 4 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    Sleeping Lady Hike (Again)

    On my first day I had done a hike called Sleeping Lady but Michelle really wanted to do it as her boyfriend did it 8 years ago and had a terrible time fighting for his life in the heavy rain so she wanted to prove she could conquer it. For breakfast, I went to the place where we had dinner yesterday and ordered a Laos breakfast as I was curious what it was. It turned out to be some sticky rice, dried Mekong river weed, omelette pieces, and a cup of tea which was actually really nice - especially when dipped in the Chili sauce and made a nice change as the river weed is a very local delicacy and was surprisingly pretty good. Unfortunately, Elisa was leaving this morning to Luang Prabang but I wasn't able to say goodbye in person which was a shame

    For my first Smoothie of the day I grabbed a mango which as always was beautiful and also wanted to stock up on some snacks for the day. I decided I didn't want any Western snacks so along with the stuff we still had from yesterday, I also brought some oranges, some bananas, and a mango from a fruit stall. We made our way up which compared to our hike yesterday was much easier as it must have been only half the height - though the path wasn't as good. At the top we enjoyed a lovely feast of sunflower seeds, peanuts, fruit chips, bananas and oranges. Also, due to the rain yesterday the view was much clearer than 2 days before so that was nice and boded well for the next couple days.

    I usually adopt a "falling with style" method of descent from hikes which meant that I stacked it a few times last time I did this hike but this time I moved a bit slower with Michelle and saved myself the hassle of sliding down on my ass. When we got down my next mission for the day was to find a knife so I could cut up fruit as it seemed like a cool thing to do - especially with all the the fruit stalls dotted about. Surprisingly, I found one straight away in a massive hardware store and I had the choice of a few sizes but went with the smallest one just to be less of a threat. This one had a peeler built in to the middle which I thought might be useful but ended up being a pain in the ass when cutting.

    We went back to the usual spot for my 2nd smoothie of the day where I went a bit adventurous and brought a mint, lemon, and honey smoothie which happened to have a very strong mint flavour which I wasn't the biggest fan of but I persevered regardless. I saw a sign for some local honey and thought it would go perfect with the mango so went on a mission to find the shop and buy some. I ran into Paul from the boat journey from Muang Khua and said hello, as well as Rasmus and Kasper who we had booked the kayaking with. After getting the honey, we eneded up having lunch with them before I started on the mango. I asked for a plate then got to work cutting. It was my first time ever cutting a mango and was very surprised to learn that mangos had a massive seed in the middle. After butchering the hell out of the mango I eventually had it cut into little chunks ready to eat. Dipping the chunks into the honey, I was in heaven with both the taste of the mango and the local honey. Another side mission of today was to find people to join our tour as it would have made it cheaper for all of us, but unfortunately depsite our "best" efforts (we didn't try very hard) we didn't find anyone, even after asking about in the restaurant.

    I precariously cleaned my knife with tissues and hand sanitiser then we chilled at the restaurant for a while longer before I went for my 3rd smoothie of the day - a banana and coconut combo which tasted solely like banana with no hint of coconut unfortunately. The boys hadn't slept in a few days so they headed to bed early and Michellle and I went back for a shower before dinner. Michelle had moved to the same homestay as me which made it alot easier as we weren't on other sides of town to eachother. After a shower, shave and a bit of a rest, we went out for dinner and tried a different restaurant where they had an adorable little cat who begged for food and cuddles. I went for a red curry and Michelle went for a green curry and it was bloody tasty and possibly one of the nicest meals I've had in Laos. I've fallen out of the habit of taking pictures of my meals but thought this deserved the privilege.

    After them not having any sticky rice for a sticky mango rice, we called it a night and went to bed as we were starting our 2 day kayak tour tomorrow and needed to be fresh.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    Day 88

    Day 88

    May 3 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Pha Kao Hike

    We decided on an early rise to beat the heat of the day for our bike hike we had planned. We went for some breakfast, joining with Elisa and Robert before their day trip to Muang Ngoy. With a full stomach, we made our way to the start of the hike to the viewpoint and paid entry. We had to cross a very rickety bamboo bridge before starting on the incline. The actual distance wasn't very far but there was enough elevation to get us sweating. Luckily, unlike the other viewpoint I did yesterday, this one had very good steps cut into the dirt so I wasn't as concerned with slipping over.

    There was a smaller viewpoint about 1/4 of the way up again which was nice to stop for a little break and let my sun hoodie air out a little but as it was starting to get pretty sweaty. The rest of the hike was really nice, walking in and out of the jungle with beautiful old trees, big luscious green leaves, and some stunning views of the cliffs to our side. Luckily, it was mostly covered in shade aswell so wasn't as hot as it could be, but we were definitely happy that we left early in the morning. Towards the top, where it got steeper over rocks, there were little wooden ladders in place which were quite fun to go up.

    When we reached the top, we scrambled over some rocks and found what seemed to ge the in-situ camping stuff all packed up ready for the tours that they did to the. We got to the little platform that had evidently once been a whole structure with a roof but hadn't survived as all the metal sheets lied strewn about. The view was pretty nice but more than anything, I wanted a bit of shade to relax in for a while. I immediately got to work, grabbing the sheets and trying to balance them on the beams to try and give us a small covered area. With a bit of teamwork and tip toes, we were protected.

    After the scrambling, my shoes that I had proudly repaired a couple weeks ago I'm Vietnan had decided they had enough and started to fall apart again. Luckily, I had a suspicion this might happen and brought my glue with my to do an emergency repair. To celebrate the finish of the hike and the repair of my shoes, we busted out some snacks. I had decided that I had indulged in too many sweet treats in Vietnam (mostly Oreos I can't lie) and wanted to force myself to try more local and less sugary snacks. I had some seaweed crisps from the day before left over, as well as some small packets of peanuts, and some dried fruit chips. Those paired with Michelle's coconut flavoured sesame seeds, we were eating like royalty.

    We met a couple that stayed for a while and as we were chatting, the metal sheets I had precariously placed right above my head decided that with a bit of wind they didn't want to stay and fell down right next to me, almost either knocking me out or cutting me up. Luckily, I wasn't hit but my stupidity still continues to surprise me - even after 20 years. After having enough of the karaoke we could hear from all the way down in the town, we made our way down which was considerably easier than the way up.

    Fancying a smoothie, we went to the same place as dinner yesterday and I grabbed a coconut smoothie, then we grabbed some lunch there too. After lunch we ended up chilling for a bit and I had a shoeer before meeting up with Elisa and Robert again in the evening for some dinner. I ended up choosing the Laos Steak which looked amazing on Google but ended up being some really thin pork steaks and nothing else with it so I was a little disappointed. After dinner, we headed to a restaurant / bar / café thing that was still open and had a drink (I had a lovely watermelon cider called Somersby) before I had to figure out how to open a gate to get back in my homestay so I could go to bed.    Read more

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