Luang Probang
I left Sang's to go to Luang Probang.. can't remember what date- will have look it up.
I left most my stuff there- I was going back afterwards and then heading on to Vietnam. I took the night bus to Luang Probang- which is north from the capital. Big Mistake!
First, I paid for an aircon bus. So we got on, and about an hour and a half later, the engine blew up. So we had to wait another hour and a half for another bus to come. To start with, it was an ordinary bus (which actually turned out better, in my opinion- except for the broken fan). Then, it started to pour. You think it'd be ok, considering we're on the INSIDE of the bus. Didn't seem to matter though. I got dripped on quite a bit. Oh well! At least we got there at 7:30 in the morning as opposed to 5am.
I got a tuk tuk to an alleway full of guest houses. I didn't do much the first day- I wandered around a bit.. Luang Probang is very beautiful. I ate by myself (to start with) at an open restaurant next to the river. While I was eating, a Lao family and their Vietnamese friend sat down at the table next to me. They started talking to me. I was suprised at how much I was able to understand- I was quite impressed with myself! They invited me to sit with them. There was a girl a bit younger than me, her older brother, her older sister and her sister's husband? I think. And the Vietnamese guy.
They then invited me to go to a Kareoke bar.. I made sure that the girls were both going and then I went with them. It's not our idea of kareoke- they have performers singing along with a house band- it's not like you can get up and sing off a screen. It was ok. Soo overstaffed, like every single other venue I've seen in the whole of Asia. Which is good for the customers.
The old guy got drunk, and it kinda went down hill from there, so I asked them to take me back to my guesthouse.
Te next day i was the right little adventurer! First I explored the famous temples of the little town. Then, with the same tuktuk driver, I went to a handicraft village and bought a few things- spent quite a while there. Then he took me down a pretty bumpy dirt road to the caves called Pac Ou. The ride took a bit less then an hour, but it was amazing. When we got there, we had to cross the river to the caves. Lo and behold, it starts pouring down with rain. As we're on a small boat crossing the river. The current was very strong too. I thankfully find out that the bags I carry my camera's in are water proof! So by now, I'm totally sopping wet, and we have to wait in a little wooden shelter with a couple of tables for the rain to stop. When it stopped, I walked up to the caves (which are really nothing special at all) and crossed back on the little boat to the other side. STILL wet, the roads even worse now, we drove back to town. The caves weren't really worth it, but the journey there was.
When I went back to Vientiane, I took the day bus. It was much nicer- becasue it had rained the entire day before, the air was not hot, and having the windows open was good. The mountains and terrain were incredible, as we drove down the extremely windy road. I got back and a driver tried to charge me $US5 to get to Sang's village! Pfft! Sang, Joy and Tall Lere came and picked me up on there little motorbikes. Then we went out!! Hahaha. It was Saturday night, come on! ;)
I left most my stuff there- I was going back afterwards and then heading on to Vietnam. I took the night bus to Luang Probang- which is north from the capital. Big Mistake!
First, I paid for an aircon bus. So we got on, and about an hour and a half later, the engine blew up. So we had to wait another hour and a half for another bus to come. To start with, it was an ordinary bus (which actually turned out better, in my opinion- except for the broken fan). Then, it started to pour. You think it'd be ok, considering we're on the INSIDE of the bus. Didn't seem to matter though. I got dripped on quite a bit. Oh well! At least we got there at 7:30 in the morning as opposed to 5am.
I got a tuk tuk to an alleway full of guest houses. I didn't do much the first day- I wandered around a bit.. Luang Probang is very beautiful. I ate by myself (to start with) at an open restaurant next to the river. While I was eating, a Lao family and their Vietnamese friend sat down at the table next to me. They started talking to me. I was suprised at how much I was able to understand- I was quite impressed with myself! They invited me to sit with them. There was a girl a bit younger than me, her older brother, her older sister and her sister's husband? I think. And the Vietnamese guy.
They then invited me to go to a Kareoke bar.. I made sure that the girls were both going and then I went with them. It's not our idea of kareoke- they have performers singing along with a house band- it's not like you can get up and sing off a screen. It was ok. Soo overstaffed, like every single other venue I've seen in the whole of Asia. Which is good for the customers.
The old guy got drunk, and it kinda went down hill from there, so I asked them to take me back to my guesthouse.
Te next day i was the right little adventurer! First I explored the famous temples of the little town. Then, with the same tuktuk driver, I went to a handicraft village and bought a few things- spent quite a while there. Then he took me down a pretty bumpy dirt road to the caves called Pac Ou. The ride took a bit less then an hour, but it was amazing. When we got there, we had to cross the river to the caves. Lo and behold, it starts pouring down with rain. As we're on a small boat crossing the river. The current was very strong too. I thankfully find out that the bags I carry my camera's in are water proof! So by now, I'm totally sopping wet, and we have to wait in a little wooden shelter with a couple of tables for the rain to stop. When it stopped, I walked up to the caves (which are really nothing special at all) and crossed back on the little boat to the other side. STILL wet, the roads even worse now, we drove back to town. The caves weren't really worth it, but the journey there was.
When I went back to Vientiane, I took the day bus. It was much nicer- becasue it had rained the entire day before, the air was not hot, and having the windows open was good. The mountains and terrain were incredible, as we drove down the extremely windy road. I got back and a driver tried to charge me $US5 to get to Sang's village! Pfft! Sang, Joy and Tall Lere came and picked me up on there little motorbikes. Then we went out!! Hahaha. It was Saturday night, come on! ;)