Laos
Thailand
Kambodsja
Vietnam ThailandKhlong Mae Ramphan17°0’33” N 99°48’37” E
22. februar 2018, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
So it is time to leave Chiang Mai for the last time. We have loved it here and as drive through the walls and to the bus station we know we will be back at some time in the future. We aren't really sure what time the bus is, or if there even is one, so we are delighted when we spot a sign with Sukhothai on it. We pay the fiver each to get a ticket on a bus and are chuffed when we see it is a huge, almost VIP bus.
We jump on after a toastie and grab some seats, not that we had to as only about half of them are full. There is a toilet on board but it seems to be broken as there is loads of boxes in front of it. This isn't good news when the journey is over 5 hours and there are no toilet stops on the way. The bad situation is only worsened by the fact the air conditioning on the bus is pretty rubbish, meaning it is boiling hot. Sweating a lot and not been able to drink as we will need the toilet is a nasty mix, and we are both very relieved when we arrive at Sukhothai. We are both very dehydrated and pretty knackered, so the mile long walk to the hotel isn't very enjoyable in the afternoon heat.
Luckily the hotel is lovely and has proper air con that actually works. We relax for a bit in the room. The main thing to do in Sukhothai is the historical park, which we plan to do tomorrow, and so we spend a few hours drinking water and enjoying the feel of a cold room. I end up asleep again, and we eventually head out for some food as we remember we have only had a toastie and some peanuts all day.
We head one way up the busy main road we are on, before turning round and thinking there will be more options the other way. After passing our hotel and heading down the road, we realise we are going the wrong way and head back. I buy a big bag of pork scratching that I am ashamed to say I wolf down. We then find a small restaurant where I try Sukhothai noodles. It is a lovely citrussy noodle dish that goes down a treat. We are still hungry though, and end up at the delightfully named poo restaurant. The food tastes better then the name makes it sound, and we head back to the room full up and ready to relax, before a busy day at the historical park tomorrow.Les mer
ThailandWat Chiangman18°47’40” N 98°59’22” E
21. februar 2018, Thailand ⋅ 🌙 28 °C
As we are booked onto a cooking class tonight, we decide to take the morning and early afternoon pretty easily. I take it so easily in fact that I sleep for most of the afternoon, waking an hour before we are to be picked up. Apart from a meal for dinner we don't leave the room, and 4 o clock soon rolld round. We wait outside as the clock ticks slowly past the 4 to 4.30 pick up time we had, but we are eventually picked up and packed into a very busy songthaew.
The course is advertised as 2 to 8 people, so we are rather surprised when there is 11 of us. What is more surprising is I am the only male in the group. There is me and Amy and a solo traveller named Kathie from Germany, and the rest are a group of 8 Danish girls, which means I am the sole representative for men's culinary skills. No pressure!
We start with a tour of a big food market that definitely gets our stomachs rumbling. There is food everywhere. Fresh fruit is packed high and sold very cheaply, and the giant, colourful bags of curry paste make us very excited to cook a curry. We don't head into the meat section which resembles a warehouse with steel tables covered in all kinds of unrecognisable animals. Not the place to take a vegetarian. After a short time with our very excitable and funny host Mam, in which she buys some ingredients with us, we are back in the songthaew for a 5 minute drive to her house.
It is a lovely place, and after a short gap where they prepare and we eat sticky rice, we are at a table ready to go.
First on the menu is spring rolls. The filling is already chopped up and ready to go, which saves a lot of time and only really leaves us the wrapping and frying to do. These all go pretty well and leave us thinking it is actually pretty easy. We have the same feeling after cooking pad thai. This is the one that everyone who visits Thailand wants to learn how to cook. After prepping the ingredients we are shown how to make it. It is a quick, frantic dash as we mix and stir all the ingredients in a wok, but the end results are delicious. It all seems so simple, and also rather healthy (if you forget about the frying part). We manage to make it through without any disasters, and enjoy the meal we have just cooked.
After eating we head back down to cook our next dishes. We start by pounding our curry paste together. We have been shown the ingredients that go in (there is a lot) and are left to slice and grind them down. It is a hot and labourious task but the smells it creates really gets the belly rumbling. We then make dessert. Sticky rice has already been made so we just watch as the simple task of cooking the coconut milk and sugar sauce that the rice soaks up is made. It tastes lovely.
Now we are back at the hobs making curries and soups that we have chosen. They are both rather similar to make, and involve a lot of taste-testig and stirring, but the flavours that are created from the assortment of leaves and spice that we use are great.
Once everything is made, we enjoy what we can eat of our second meal, and it is again delicious.
It all seemed easy, but it always is when someone is taking you through it step by step. We are given a cook book to take home so hopefully we can find all the ingredients and recreate some of these dishes for ourselves.
All in all it was a very fun and very informative night. Mam, our host, was a great teacher and certainly kept us entertained by laughing wildly at her own jokes or stroking her pet squirrel (not sure that would past the food hygiene laws in England). It is a great way to spend our last day in Chiang Mai, and we fall asleep with bellies uncomfortably full of food we somehow managed to cook.Les mer
ThailandWat Chiangman18°47’39” N 98°59’23” E
20. februar 2018, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
It feels good to be back here, and the room wasn't too cold last night despite the fan being too loud to have on during the night. We get up pretty slowly before heading out for some breakfast.
After we have eaten and enjoyed a nice fruit shake, we head off wandering, not really knowing where we are heading. Chiang Mai is so good as round every corner there seems to be something cool. Whether it is a coffee shop, or a cool clothes shop or graffiti, there is always something to keep you occupied. We walk about and take it all in, but I am feeling pretty tired so after a while we stop for a cup of coffee to give us a boost. I have missed the Thai coffee, choosing the tea in Laos instead, so it is great to have another one. There are tons of things to do in Chiang Mai, but sitting with a coffee down one of the many streets in the old town and watching the world go by is one of my favourites.
After the coffee and feeling revitalised we head off walking again. We head to the walls and watch eveyone feeding the pigeons right in front of a massive 'do not feed the animals' sign. After that we notice a park that we haven't visited for on a map, so make our way towards that. It is on the other side of the town so we wander past the many beautiful temples and stores and slowly get there. It is very nice, and after finding some shade it is lovely to watch the massive fish being fed and the pigeons trying to steal the food. Laying on the grass, it feels like we are miles out of the town, and we feel we could stay here for hours. We buy some food and feed the fish (and the pigeons) before taking a long route around the walls back to our hotel.
There are many animal shops selling everything from rats to turtles, and they offer us some entertainment and some shade on the way back. It takes around half an hour and we grab some food before going back to the room and having a few hours away from the sun.
After a rest we head out for some food. It is nice to know some of the restaurants now, and we head to one that we have been in several times before and have always had lovely meals (especially a pizza on Christmas Eve). I get the khao soi, which is a lovely curry dish which has noodles (soft and crispy) in it. It is delightful, and as it is native to only Northen Thailand I think, it seems like a must as we are soon to leave.
After eating we head to the reggae bar for one last beer. Unfortunately there is no band on at the moment, and it isn't very busy due to it being low season, but it is nice to be back in a place we have had some really good times. We head back after one beer and get some rest. The room is hot which isn't the best, but hopefully we will be able to get some sleep!Les mer
ThailandWat Chiangman18°47’39” N 98°59’23” E
19. februar 2018, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
With a bus booked back to Chiang Mai at 3.45, we don't have long to spend in Chiang Rai. The plan is to do a bit of exploring, a bit of shopping, and get me a haircut. It is handy staying right near the bus station as we can leave our bags in the hotel and don't have to carry them around with us all day. The new position of the hotel compared to where we stayed last time has given us a different outlook on the city. Where as before we thought it was a bit dead, we realised last night that is not the case. We were just looking in the wrong places!
Our first stop is for food, and we go to a restaurant we ate at a lot last time we were here. It is run by a lovely old woman who has an infectious smile. Her husband is here today helping, and he is just as generous and nice as her, giving us free soup and filling up our water bottle before we go. Add there kindness to the fact the food is great and very cheap and we're onto a winner. We were wondering if she would recognise us, and we weren't sure in the end if she did, or if she os just so friendly with everyone.
With full bellies we head off and Amy looks through a few shops. We then finally find a hairdesser who will cut my hair after a few unsuccessful attempts. Maybe the language barrier puts them off, or maybe it's the look of my far too long hair. The woman who cuts my hair does a good job, and it feels great to get the long hair off the sides. It will be much needed as we head South and the temperature jumps up.
We look around a few more shops and Amy finds a pair of black shorts. Like the haircut, these have been hard to find, and she is chuffed to get a pair that fit. Her delight at getting the shorts is nothing though compared to when we enter cat n a cup cafe. As the name suggests, you eat or drink while cats wander around freely. There is loads of them, ranging from big to small and black to white, and we spend about an hour relaxing and watching them sleeping or fighting. To be honest, the most enjoyable part is watching people try to eat whilst fending off a pack of hungry cats. One guy gets his full slice of cake snatched from his plate in one quick swoop of a paw, and another girl takes about half an hour to eat her sandwich due to her hand being used as a shield. She did order tuna sandwich though, so it is kinda her fault.
After the cat cafe we head to a book shop that we saw some flyers for. It is pretty cool but the selection isn't great and I'm not sure about paying over a fiver for used books. We leave empty handed before going for a little wander around the town and heading back to the hotel. It is another boiling day and it is nice to sit on the comfy seats inside and relax a bit before the bus.
I would normally be dreading a bus ride today, but we have used the green buses that seem to own the route between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai before, and they are very nice. That is the case again this time as we relax in the comfort of a big chair and some air con. The 3.5 hour drive goes pretty quickly and painlessly.
We are back in Chiang Mai! The place we have spent the most time and the place we find the most homely. We know it now, which is very nice. It feels great as we see the walls around the old square and drive past the old bars and restaurants we have been in before. Our hostel is nice, despite the room being a bit on the warm side, but for 9 pound a night we don't mind.
We head out for some lovely food. I get a sweet and sour and Amy gets a green curry, before we head back and get some rest.
We love this place, and are so glad to be back!Les mer
ThailandChiang Rai19°54’20” N 99°50’7” E
18. februar 2018, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
The plan today is a simple one. The first step is getting on the bus we have already booked to the border at midday. We have heard there is a bus to Chiang Rai from there at 9am and 4.30pm every day, so due to the 4 hour ride we feel the 9am is undoable. Hopefully the midday bus bus which we are told takes 3.5 hours will get us there with plenty of time to jump on the Chiang Rai bus and go over the border and to the bus station that is 100m from our hotel. Sounds simple, right?
The first leg of the journey goes well, as we get to the bus station an hour early so as to get good seats. This turns out to be a wise move, as half an hour before the departure time the bus is crammed full. Everywhere a seat could go there is one. The aisle has been filled with fold out chairs and the conductor sits on a camping chair in the doorway. The row in front of us which is only really three seats has five people sat along it. Our bags are fastened to the roof, and ten minutes before midday, we are off.
The air conditioning isn't on but luckily the windows open nice and wide so it's not too bad. The road isn't as bad as most have been in Laos, but it is very hilly, and it some becomes apparent this bus wasn't made to climb hills. As soon as we get to the bottom of an incline we immediately slow down, trudging up it with the speed of a knackered cyclist. It is at these moments that the breeze from the window stops and the sun starts to feel so more hotter. We sweat up along with the van, which would be dripping if it had pores, and slowly tick away the 200 kilometres.
We only have one brief stop, but it soon becomes apparent it is gonna be very tight to catch the bus.
We drive past 2 or 3 car crashes, including two cars both pretty trashed and one car upturned on the side of the road. Thankfully there didn't look to be anyone seriously hurt. It certainly makes us wince a bit more every time a car overtakes us on a blind corner on the side of a mountain (which is much more frequent then you would imagine).
As we get within 10km we are very short on time, and unfortunately this is when everyone decides to get off one by one. It wouldn't be so bad, but the driver has to climb onto the roof and unpack their bags. When we finally get there it is around quarter past 4, and we don't see any buses in the parking area.
A quick look tells us the bus was at 4. We missed it by quarter of an hour. With a hotel already booked in Thailand and not much around here, we start to wonder what to do. Luckily a tuk tuk driver is going to the border, which it turns out is a few miles away from the station, so we hop in with him. The border is pretty empty and we soon check out of Laos and jump onto a shuttle bus which rides us over the bridge and back into Thailand. Border control goes pretty well and soon enough are tickets are stamped with another 30 day visa for nothing. Now all that the is left to do is get to Chiang Rai.
We ask the woman at the desk who tells us we have missed the last bus. Oh dear. This border seems even more deserted then the last one. We are called over again though, and she tells us she can us on the last minibus to Chiang Rai, on the last two seats going. This is great news, but the feeling of joy disappears again when the cash machine isn't working and we don't have enough money to pay. I end up jumping in a tuk tuk heading out and getting out at the nearest cash machine. I get money as the clock ticks towards 5.30, the time the mini bus is scheduled to leave. I make a run for it, which isn't easy in flip flops, and get there just in time to pay. The bus driver is waiting for us and we walk over and unload our bags. It is a boiling hot day, and not a good day to go running, resulting in me being rather sweaty. It doesn't help that I am pushed inbetween a local man and everyone's luggage on the back seat. We share what is around 1 and a half seats worth of space while Amy sits in the front seat with all the space in the world.
The journey to Chiang Rai takes around 90 minutes, and we get dropped off at the wrong bus station for our hotel. We end up grabbing a tuk tuk to take us the five miles to where we need to be, and finally the journey is over. Who said travelling was easy!
Thankfully, the hotel we have booked is lovely. After dropping off our bags we head out for some well needed food. There is a giant food market with dancers and singers performing on a stage and we load up on spring rolls and noodles before heading back to the room and relaxing. What a day!
These days aren't the most fun when you are on them, but they are certainly good when the journey is over. It didn't exactly go to plan (two buses was the plan, instead it was a bus, a tuk tuk, another bus, a mini bus, and another tuk tuk) but it certainly makes it a better story to tell, and all's well that ends well I guess. It worked out about 8 hours of travelling, and we have already booked our bus to Chiang Mai tomorrow (3.5 hours). Hopefully that one will go a bit better then today!Les mer
LaosBan Thôngchai-Tai21°0’9” N 101°24’33” E
17. februar 2018, Laos ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C
After falling asleep pretty early last night, we are up nice and early today and ready for an explore of Luang Namtha. The main attraction of here is trekking, but the only way to do that is to book onto a 2 or 3 day tour, and we can't be bothered to do that, so we wander around the small and empty town. It isn't empty in terms of shops and restaurants, but the roads are completely empty. It is an odd, slow place, and this is exemplified by our breakfast.
We find a nice looking restaurant and stop by for some food. Amy orders fried rice with a fried egg which takes half an hour to come. After another twenty minutes of waiting, I am told they can't make the omelette I ordered. This after sitting waiting with no-one else in the restaurant. I end up getting fried rice and egg after about an hour wait, and we eventually head off, after waiting another five minutes for change.
I aim to get a haircut, but there doesn't seem to be many places. We stumble upon a market in which we hunt for a beer lao shirt for Amy, but we don't find anything. There isn't much else we want so we soon move off and head for a valley trail that we saw on a map. It is another sweltering day and the couple of mile walk we take up a long and winding path takes it out of us. We gradually keep walking uphill until we pass a temple and a stupor. The views over Luang Namtha are great, and the initial worry we had about this place soon ebbs away as we become quite enamoured with the tiny town nestled inbetween the fields. We head back feeling pretty worn out and rest in the room for a bit.
After an hour out of the heat, we head out for a delicious burrito in a restaurant called bamboo house that is set up to fund many projects in Luang Namtha. It is a nice place and the free tea and water goes down a treat. We go for another little wander but there really isn't too much to see without delving into a day long trek in the jungle, so we wander back to the room, picking up a bus ticket to the Thai border on the way.
It is our last night in Laos. It is a country that has shocked us with it's natural beauty and laid back attitude. A place you could spend a week and see most of the major sights, but also spend a year and not get bored. Sitting in a hammock seems just as natural here as taking a 5 mile trek up a mountain. Without heading South due to the excruciatingly long bus journeys, we feel we have seen a great side to this amazing country.
Our final meal is spent at the food market. I eat more of the delicious pork which is 60p a helping, while Amy eats noodles and spring rolls. It is a a very greasy but very tasty meal. As it is our last night in Laos, it would be rude to not have one last beer Lao to toast the three weeks we have spent here. As we sit in a nice bar that plays some rather dreary music, we witness another motorbike crash. Both of the drivers seem fine despite one bike flying across the road. Riding mopeds is one thing I certainly won't miss when returning to England.
We head back to bed after one last crepe from he market and get some sleep, ready for another six hours on a bus tomorrow, as we head to Thailand again and begin to slowly make our way down to Bangkok. The days keep ticking away as the flight home gets closer and closer!Les mer
LaosBan Thôngchai-Tai21°0’9” N 101°24’33” E
16. februar 2018, Laos ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
Well our time in this part of Laos has come to an end. It is the kind of place where you feel like you could stay forever, but with only a short time on our trip and most of the places covered, we feel it is time to move on.
The only way out of Muang Ngoi is on the boat back to Nong Khiaw. We wolf down a big breakfast in anticipation of a long day, and get to the docks nice and early. After the painfully cramped journey, this one doesn't feel too bad. Amy manages to grab herself one of the comfy front seats while I sit behind her on the less comfy bench, but wih space to actually stretch my legs out which feels like a luxury. Our driver isn't messing about this time, and he speeds past the clouded mountains and gets us back in around 45 minutes.
When back in Nong Khiaw, we jump onboard a songthaew that takes around ten of us to the bus station. We weren't sure if we would make it to Luang Namtha today after some internet research, so are delighted when we see a bus heading straight there. We pay the 100000 kip fee (9 pound) and get some good seats nice and early. It is lucky we did, as the bus soon packs full, with even someone sitting on a beer crate inbetween seats.
After a brief food stop in which we are given a blatanly fake 2000 kip note that we weren't sure enough about to contend, we drive on. The roads are bumpy and the bus is busy, resulting in a very uncomfortable 6 hour drive that leaves most people feeling queazy. It didn't seem far on the maps, but the constant turns and bends in the road mean the driver can't go fast, and the drive drags on and on. It is too bumpy to read or watch something on our phones, so the beautiful scenery passing by the window is the only entertainment we get.
Finally the bus pulls to a stop, and we climb out into the fresh air. It has been a long day and everyone is ready to get settled in a hotel room. Unfortunately, we have been dropped 10km from the town, so another songthaew ride to the centre is needed, at an additional cost of 20000 kip. When we do finally get into Luang Namtha, it is starting to get dark and we settle for the first gueshouse we see. It turns out it is a surprisingly nice place, and for 70000 kip (around 6 quid) a night, we can't complain.
Another problem with travelling days is the infrequent toilet breaks, so we get some fluids into us before realising we haven't eaten since breakfast. We head to a restaurant and order a large meal, before going to the food market where I buy some delicious pork. Crackling tastes amazing after so long without a roast. Thank God I ate it in the room, or else I would have spent a lot more eating tonight!
After eating we head back to the room. We left our old room at 8 this morning, and the day has exhausted us, so it won't take us long to get to sleep tonight.Les mer
LaosNam Ngoy20°42’34” N 102°40’28” E
15. februar 2018, Laos ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
We allow ourselves the lie in we had promised yesterday, and it feels to not get out of bed until around half ten. We watch a film called seven pounds which Amy cries pretty much the full way through, and don't have to face a half asleep ice cold shower like we have the previous few days.
When we do finally move, we head to a lovely restaurant that serves a delicious pad Thai, before taking a long walk out of town. There isn't many paths that you can go down here, and it seems rather impossible to get lost, so we wander pretty aimlessly and take in the scenery as we get further and further into the countryside.
The road is a little dirt track about big enough for one car, and it is wedged inbetween large fields on one side, and tall mountains on the other. On one of the mountains we see some large craters that may be man made, but certainly looks like the result of a bomb exploding. They give a nasty reminder of the danger that lingers here for the workers in the fields, and reiterate the dark history we have so recently learned about. Whether or not what we saw was from a bomb we are unsure, but this is one of the most heavily bombed areas of the country, so it could be.
We keep walking and the views seem to keep surprising us with every turn. The heat has ramped up the last few days (yesterday my phone gave a maybe exaggerated reading of 34 degrees) and it is boiling hot as we slowly trudge down the lane. There aren't many other tourists, and it is lovely and quiet with only a passing motorbike every now and then.
We reach a lovely riverside restaurant and take advantage of the shade it offers to sup a few cold drinks. There is a hammock that we use as we relax listening to the water flowing down the stream. After getting some sugar induced energy we head to the nearby cave. It is very cool, but neither of us are brave enough to enter the dark depths that the path leads to. Our phone lights only brighten up a small segment in front of our face, and the darkness that surrounds us is far too eerie to take the path through the cave. I can't imagine many people do go through, especially if they are alone. The part of the cave we do go to (the part near the entrance that is lit up) is a nice place to stop due to the cool temperature and rock structures that have formed above us. When limestone slowly drips away it leaves a shape like a wave that has been frozen in mid air, hanging from the roof or walls, and despite seeing a lot of them now, they are still interesting.
We leave the cave and keep walking a bit, before turning back and heading home. On the way back Amy sits on a rock and wets her feet and legs in the icy water of the stream, and we see another bamboo bridge that looks like it could fall any minute, but in reality will probably still be standing years from now. Back we head with the sun beating down mercilessly. We take a turn and find ourselves at the bottom of a viewpoint. I ask the ticket seller how far it is to the top, and he replies one hour. With this heat and our already aching legs, we decide to give this one a miss.
We grab some dinner, and I have fried noodles with duck (I am sorry Samwell my feathered friend) before we head back to the room. We spend a productive few hours planning how we will move from here to Bangkok. The prospect of coming home now seems very real as we count the days down to leaving day, working out where we will go and how long we will spend in each place. We plan to visit one more place in Laos before heading back to Thailand, and we will back on the road tomorrow.
After another tiring day, we head out for some tea and end up in the same place we ate the first night. We aren't sure why, but everyone seems to have moved on today, leaving the town completely dead. Apart from a few tourists wandering past in search of a cheap plate of noodles, it is empty. Only the many dogs and cats wander the streets, two of which have a little fight before running after each other into the night.
The food is amazing as always, and we head back to the room full of sticky rice, and not really looking forward to the early start and the long day of travelling that we will wake up to tomorrow.Les mer
LaosNam Ngoy20°42’34” N 102°40’28” E
14. februar 2018, Laos ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
It's Valentine's day, and I have decided to let my romantic side free, and give Amy the gift of another mountain trek. We scoped a viewpoint out after a short walk yesterday, and after a lovely omelette coated with laughing cow cheese for breakfast with Medi, we head off to the bottom of the mountain.
A friendly local takes some money from us for some tickets, and we are on our way. The early morning chill soon disappears, letting the sweltering sun break through, and the hoodies soon come off as we sweat our way up the steep, challenging climb. It only takes around half an hour to reach the top, but it is half an hour of pretty intense climbing, mostly consisting of rocks that you step up using the rickety handrail next to you.
We reach to the top sweaty and already feeling pretty tired, but the view soon makes you forget all that. I noticed when we signed in at the entrance that we were the first people today, and this is confirmed by the empty platform we walk onto. We take in the view and the shade, sitting down and relaxing as the mist slowly drifts off the mountaintops in front of us. It is a great place, and we could spend hours here.
Around half an hour passes before we are joined by an older guy, who immediately whips off his top. We take this as our cue to leave, and begin the much easier way down. The way up and the way down are two different routes, and this one is more of a path then the climb up. It takes half the effort but about the same length of time to reach the safety of the bottom. At least we thought it was safe. Mountain hikes are always tense because of the poisonous animals that occupy the jungles around us, and yet it is as soon as we step away from the trees and bushes, that we are confronted by some weird giant turkey. The noise that emanates from its beak as it saunters towards us resembles an hangry (a new scientific term for when Amy is hungry, and thus very angry) dinosaur.
The topless man reaches the bottom around the same time as us and steps in between us to get a photo of this monster, which gives us the chance to run around the side, and out of its deadly clutches. That was a close call. Next time we won't be so lucky. On hindsight it was just a really big bird, but at the time it was pretty scary.
As it is Valentine's day we decide to treat ourselves to some afternoon drinks. We find a lovely riverside bar where we have a beer and watch the Mekong lazily flowing past us. It is the same views that we have been blessed with the last week or so, but they never seem to get old. We drink up and go for a small walk down a road we find leading out of town. It ends up taking us past a school in which a class of girls are learning a dance in the playground, and many fields laden with crops and cows and of course the compulsory mountains looming in the distance. It is a boiling hot day, and we head back after a short while and make the most of the hammock on the balcony.
We head out again later and go back to the bar we drank at this afternoon just in time for the sunset. We have a few more beers and watch as the orange glow descends into darkness and the mountains one by one start to disappear. It is an amazing place and the beer Lao tastes great as well.
We head to another bar after that and have another drink and some chips, before grabbing a curry from the restaurant opposite. Fed up of rice, we order chips instead, which doesn't go down so well with the potato curry.
We finally return to the room after a lovely day, and as we get into bed the viewpoint certainly seems a very long time ago. The final Valentine's gift we give each other is the promise of a lie in in the morning, and that is something we are both very much looking forward to!Les mer
LaosNam Ngoy20°42’34” N 102°40’28” E
13. februar 2018, Laos ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
Time to leave Nong Khiaw, and we will soon be heading the same way we briefly ventured yesterday on the kayaks. After getting up and getting packed in time for the early boat (early being half past ten) we make our way over the bridge one last time and down to the dock. We are pretty early but it is already looking like it will be a busy road as the crowd of rucksack laden tourists grows and grows as departure time gets nearer.
When it finally comes we have formed an orderly queue down the stairway leading to the water, but as people start to board, all rules are broken as people from the back wander down anyway, oblivious of the angry stares of the people in line. One of these people is Medi, a man we met on the balcony of our hotel in Nong Khiaw, and who looks a bit like a tanned Wayne Sleep. He finds himself on the comfy seats, as we are shoved into the back on some very uncomfy benches.
We squeeze so many people on the boat there is hardly any breathing room, and then shove a few more on. It isn't comfy, so thank God the journey only lasts an hour. After filling two boats, there are around five people left. These are the obedient law of the queue abiders, and karma looks down on them by gifting them an empty boat, where they can stretch out and admire the scenery.
When we finally set off we are nearly an hour late. The scenery is lovely along the route, but it is far too awkward to turn around to look at it that it isn't worth it. It is with great joy that we finally see the gueshouses and bugalows of Muang Ngoi in the distance.
When we arrive, my knees are very painful to move due to being cramped up for the last hour, and just getting out of the boat and onto the wobbly platform is hard work. We instantly reconise that this place is special. Nestled inbetween the many surrounding mountains, it only got a road out in 2013. Before that it was only accesible by boat, and it is as far flung from Bangkok and Hanoi as you could get!
We grab our bags that have been slung onto the platform, and head off with the crowd in search of somewhere to sleep. Most people head for the riverside hotels, so we decide to head further inland. What we find is a dirt road that looks recently dug up and churned. What this place lacks in infrastructure it certainly makes up for in beauty. The mountains (not hills according to Medi) are everywhere you look, and it is probably even better then Nong Khiaw.
Carefully balancing with our bags on our back and flip flops on our feet, we find a lovely little bungalow, that comes with a nice balcony and hammock. We snap it up at 100,000 kip a night (just under £9) and get settled in.
After a while we realise we haven't eaten all day, so head out for some dinner. We walk a short way down the dirt road and find a cool little restaurant where we settle down to eat. Medi turns up after a few minutes and sits with us, regaling us with stories of his travelling past. After eating we wander to his bungalow to see the view he has got. The room doesn't look too pretty, but the view of the mountains along the Mekong is lovely. We chill there for a bit before heading back to our bungalow for some well needed rest. I fall asleep and don't wake up until 6pm! Guess I was more worn out then I thought.
As night sets in, we go out for tea. We are drawn into a restaurant by a very persuasive lady, who tells us to try the local food. We order a curry called suzy which is amazing, and a noodle dish called larp which is also delicious. It is always a risk ordering things you have never heard of, but it paid off tonight.
And so we head back, bellies full and well rested. We go to bed excited to explore more tomorrow, and already falling in love with this small, sleepy town.Les mer
