Luckily for me the rain kept bouncing down so I didn’t hire a motor bike after all – probably saved me from killing myself!! My feet have been blistered and then more blisters on top so doing nothing has given them the chance to heal up. None of the shoes are new so I don’t know why that happened.
I’d had a meal with Gutcher, the Korean guy the night before. He’d said he was hitch-hiking to Thailand the next morning. I met him again while I was having breakfast and he said because of the rain he would be catching the bus with the two boys from Hong Kong.
The bus from Nam Tha to Prabang left from the bus station at the end of town so we had to get on the pick-up truck bus. I was afraid I would show myself up but it was a lot easier than I thought.
There were several Europeans on the bus so at least it helped the time pass quickly. The bus was a real old bone-shaker with really hard seats and the roads are not the smooth tarmac I am used to!!! However, it was a beautiful day and the scenery was spectacular again as we went up and down mountains and through tiny villages with houses on stilts. The air conditioning was open windows and huge fans on the ceiling of the bus. It was really noisy.
A lorry had gone over the edge of the road but luckily for the driver, he only went into a ditch and it was lying on its side. About two hours into the journey, the bus stopped at the top of the hill for a toilet stop. The men all lined up by the side of the road while the women went into the bushes! An hour later we stopped at Oudomxay where there were proper toilets for me (when I say proper, I mean the squat type) and they were absolutely spotless. We stayed there to get some lunch but I passed on that as did all the other westerners. The offerings were barbecued parsons' noses on sticks or roast intestines from God knows what!
Again we stopped on the top of a mountain, this time for everyone to buy cucumbers! There were about six stalls all with just cucumbers and one with some furry animals. They were about the size of a large guinea pig with wicked looking buck teeth and a hairless tail which was quite broad at the base then looked like a rat’s tail but not as long. A man bought one and took it on the bus in a wicker basket. I asked him if he would eat it and he said yes. Speaking to someone on Saturday, he said it was probably a mole.
When we arrived at Luang Prabang, the tuk-tuk drivers just descended on us, asking ridiculous sums to drive us into the city. The Austrian guy decided all ten of us would fit in one. He was right but it was a struggle!!!
I walked round to the guesthouse I had chosen from the Lonely Planet, asked if they had a room and was shown one on the ground floor with fan and hot water shower in the bathroom and it cost 60,000 kip, about five pounds. It was a nice quiet location, one street back from the Mekong River. Perfect. The owner said that there was free tea, coffee and water plus free bananas! What more do you want for your money? The bed was comfortable too.
I walked back through the night market to get something to eat then went back, had another beer and was in bed for 10 pm.
Saturday
Early to bed and all that jazz – my eyes pinged open at 5 am. I got up, showered and went out. The owner was already up and showed me where to go on the map. I walked to the Mekong than along and round the peninsula, found JoMa café and had some proper bread for breakfast. I got talking to a man near the temple who was fixing a racing boat for the festival later this month. Apparently it’s a really big thing but not until the 20th but I cannot stay here until then. I passed the museum where they were selling tickets for the Royal Ballet’s performance that evening so I booked a ticket and then carried on until I got to where the Nam Khan flows into the Mekong. A short stroll by the Mekong brought me back to the guesthouse. The place is quite small.
The daughter at the guesthouse is starting to do breakfasts from next week and had written out a menu. She asked me what I thought about it and as there were a couple of minor mistakes, I asked if they would mind it I corrected them? That was fine, so I also showed her how to format it and it looked even better! I’ve got to stick my nose in!
I was undecided whether to go to the waterfalls that afternoon or go for a massage. It started raining so massage it was! I went to the Lao Red Cross for the massage. All proceeds go to helping train people in the villages to do first aid and also to improve water and toilet facilities. A very worthy cause and an excellent massage too! The girls on the ticket desk were killing themselves laughing at me as I climbed the steps up. I must admit I felt so much better after an hour’s pummeling!
I went back to the guesthouse to get ready for the theatre and was sitting having a beer (like you do) when a really excited Dutch girl came rushing up. She’d been on an afternoon’s weaving course and had made a patterned silk scarf and she had had ‘the best time ever’. She was absolutely full of it. They also do cookery classes and tie-dying, with all the proceeds helping to keep the traditional skills going.
I went to the theatre and luckily the performance was fairly short. I have no doubt that they were very good but I didn’t really understand it. It looked very Siamese style with temple music consisting of about six notes.
I bought a sandwich off a stall on my way back as I couldn’t be bothered to get a proper meal.
Sunday
I got up very early (4:15) to see the monks’ procession where they receive alms from the local people. As it is a religious ceremony, tourists are asked to respect this and keep their distance and not use flash. I was standing a fair way back when this German woman rushed up to the monks and proceeded to flash away. Obviously the rules didn’t apply to her!
As it was still reasonably cool so I walked up 328 steps to see the view from the top of Phu Si, where there is a small temple. Although I took it very slowly, it was still a hot, sweaty climb to the top. It was well worth all the effort as there was still some early morning mist around the mountains although the sun was well up by that time. I had breakfast at one of the cafes nearby – just a continental breakfast but the small baguettes came warm and sliced and Lao coffee, although very dark, is not as strong as it looks and is delicious.
Fed and watered, it was on to the Royal Palace museum and then to Wat Xieng Thong, the largest in the town. It was getting pretty warm by now as the sun was well up so it was slowly back to the guesthouse. I don’t have a watch as I lost mine at the Tropical Botanical Gardens in China so I was really surprised to find out it was only 10:30 am!! I went back to bed for a couple of hours!!!
I have booked a trip the waterfalls tomorrow and then I will leave for Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars on Tuesday before heading south to Vientiane a couple of days later (unless someone tells me of a fantastic place I really must visit).
I’d had a meal with Gutcher, the Korean guy the night before. He’d said he was hitch-hiking to Thailand the next morning. I met him again while I was having breakfast and he said because of the rain he would be catching the bus with the two boys from Hong Kong.
The bus from Nam Tha to Prabang left from the bus station at the end of town so we had to get on the pick-up truck bus. I was afraid I would show myself up but it was a lot easier than I thought.
There were several Europeans on the bus so at least it helped the time pass quickly. The bus was a real old bone-shaker with really hard seats and the roads are not the smooth tarmac I am used to!!! However, it was a beautiful day and the scenery was spectacular again as we went up and down mountains and through tiny villages with houses on stilts. The air conditioning was open windows and huge fans on the ceiling of the bus. It was really noisy.
A lorry had gone over the edge of the road but luckily for the driver, he only went into a ditch and it was lying on its side. About two hours into the journey, the bus stopped at the top of the hill for a toilet stop. The men all lined up by the side of the road while the women went into the bushes! An hour later we stopped at Oudomxay where there were proper toilets for me (when I say proper, I mean the squat type) and they were absolutely spotless. We stayed there to get some lunch but I passed on that as did all the other westerners. The offerings were barbecued parsons' noses on sticks or roast intestines from God knows what!
Again we stopped on the top of a mountain, this time for everyone to buy cucumbers! There were about six stalls all with just cucumbers and one with some furry animals. They were about the size of a large guinea pig with wicked looking buck teeth and a hairless tail which was quite broad at the base then looked like a rat’s tail but not as long. A man bought one and took it on the bus in a wicker basket. I asked him if he would eat it and he said yes. Speaking to someone on Saturday, he said it was probably a mole.
When we arrived at Luang Prabang, the tuk-tuk drivers just descended on us, asking ridiculous sums to drive us into the city. The Austrian guy decided all ten of us would fit in one. He was right but it was a struggle!!!
I walked round to the guesthouse I had chosen from the Lonely Planet, asked if they had a room and was shown one on the ground floor with fan and hot water shower in the bathroom and it cost 60,000 kip, about five pounds. It was a nice quiet location, one street back from the Mekong River. Perfect. The owner said that there was free tea, coffee and water plus free bananas! What more do you want for your money? The bed was comfortable too.
I walked back through the night market to get something to eat then went back, had another beer and was in bed for 10 pm.
Saturday
Early to bed and all that jazz – my eyes pinged open at 5 am. I got up, showered and went out. The owner was already up and showed me where to go on the map. I walked to the Mekong than along and round the peninsula, found JoMa café and had some proper bread for breakfast. I got talking to a man near the temple who was fixing a racing boat for the festival later this month. Apparently it’s a really big thing but not until the 20th but I cannot stay here until then. I passed the museum where they were selling tickets for the Royal Ballet’s performance that evening so I booked a ticket and then carried on until I got to where the Nam Khan flows into the Mekong. A short stroll by the Mekong brought me back to the guesthouse. The place is quite small.
The daughter at the guesthouse is starting to do breakfasts from next week and had written out a menu. She asked me what I thought about it and as there were a couple of minor mistakes, I asked if they would mind it I corrected them? That was fine, so I also showed her how to format it and it looked even better! I’ve got to stick my nose in!
I was undecided whether to go to the waterfalls that afternoon or go for a massage. It started raining so massage it was! I went to the Lao Red Cross for the massage. All proceeds go to helping train people in the villages to do first aid and also to improve water and toilet facilities. A very worthy cause and an excellent massage too! The girls on the ticket desk were killing themselves laughing at me as I climbed the steps up. I must admit I felt so much better after an hour’s pummeling!
I went back to the guesthouse to get ready for the theatre and was sitting having a beer (like you do) when a really excited Dutch girl came rushing up. She’d been on an afternoon’s weaving course and had made a patterned silk scarf and she had had ‘the best time ever’. She was absolutely full of it. They also do cookery classes and tie-dying, with all the proceeds helping to keep the traditional skills going.
I went to the theatre and luckily the performance was fairly short. I have no doubt that they were very good but I didn’t really understand it. It looked very Siamese style with temple music consisting of about six notes.
I bought a sandwich off a stall on my way back as I couldn’t be bothered to get a proper meal.
Sunday
I got up very early (4:15) to see the monks’ procession where they receive alms from the local people. As it is a religious ceremony, tourists are asked to respect this and keep their distance and not use flash. I was standing a fair way back when this German woman rushed up to the monks and proceeded to flash away. Obviously the rules didn’t apply to her!
As it was still reasonably cool so I walked up 328 steps to see the view from the top of Phu Si, where there is a small temple. Although I took it very slowly, it was still a hot, sweaty climb to the top. It was well worth all the effort as there was still some early morning mist around the mountains although the sun was well up by that time. I had breakfast at one of the cafes nearby – just a continental breakfast but the small baguettes came warm and sliced and Lao coffee, although very dark, is not as strong as it looks and is delicious.
Fed and watered, it was on to the Royal Palace museum and then to Wat Xieng Thong, the largest in the town. It was getting pretty warm by now as the sun was well up so it was slowly back to the guesthouse. I don’t have a watch as I lost mine at the Tropical Botanical Gardens in China so I was really surprised to find out it was only 10:30 am!! I went back to bed for a couple of hours!!!
I have booked a trip the waterfalls tomorrow and then I will leave for Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars on Tuesday before heading south to Vientiane a couple of days later (unless someone tells me of a fantastic place I really must visit).
Well there could only be one joanne I know that Adecco would make sure I got to get a look at your blog page!! (even after I have finished, they knew i would be keen to see what you have been upto. It all sounds fantastic and I am suprised that you havent bumped into my dad, as he has been doing the rounds and we have had post cards from : Khanh Vinn, Ladakh (india) and Port Blair the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. I think this trip is coming to a close and he is visiting us in September from around 14th, so should be home then, please contact me and perhaps I can organise a cold beer and a chat with dad, and you can compare notes, he keeps a diary too. Get all my details from Adecco. take care and well done you !! love from Rebecca xxx
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