Luang Prabang to Phonsavanh

Tuesday

I’d booked the trip to the waterfall and also the bus ticket to Phonsavanh. Although I was picked up in a nice minibus with plenty of room, we were all transferred to a Toyota Hi Ace containing 14 seats. As we were all not very small Europeans, it was a bit of a squash! The waterfalls were lovely and an easy climb to the top. However, on the way back, we were taken to ‘an eco-tourism village’. Honestly it was worse than going round a very badly managed zoo. The children were all on stalls calling ‘buy, buy, buy’ with their parents just looking on. It was degrading for them and very embarrassing for us. It should not be allowed.
There was a terrific storm in the evening so I went down the river to watch it. The sheet lightning was all around and then the rain started. Although I had an umbrella, I was soaked through. Luckily the guesthouse was close. After that, I had one last walk through the night market but as it had rained so hard, they were all closing up early.

Wednesday

The mini bus turned up to transport us to the bus station where a nice young man asked if I would like the front seat as there was as much room in the vehicle as head been the day before! Unfortunately there was also another seat but lucky for me a really slim Frenchman got in. It could have been one of the really large French ladies travelling in his group.

We went up and up and up and up into the mountains. After two hours we stopped for lunch. I have no idea how high we were but it must have been pretty high. We travelled along the mountain tops through various villages and after about four hours, there was a request for a toilet stop. There is no way I am going in any bushes as there may be snakes or anything in there.

We finally got to Phonsavanh to be met with a guy with rooms to let - shades of Greece and the Greek ferries. The guesthouse was next to the bus stop - it was clean with bathroom and TV. After checking in I went for something to eat. I spoke to a lady there, I think she was French. She is doing her PhD on the Plain of Jars so it was very interesting talking to her about the sites. She told me that a couple of the travel agencies had a monopoly on the tours and the tuk-tuk drivers were too scared to run tourists themselves! Although she said that I was being ripped off, I DID book a tour! I was only spending two nights there, it was necessary.

Thursday Plain of Jars

There were six of us on the tour so there was plenty room on the bus! It was a very enjoyable day with a tour round the three sites, a visit to a rice whiskey distillery (cottage industry moonshine I think!) and a lunch of noodle soup with chicken. The third site was through rice paddies and up a small hill. It was a beautiful walk. The guide told us the rain was coming so we had better be going back. As soon as I’d got in the hotel, the heavens opened and it bounced down for about two hours.

I went to and Indian restaurant for my evening meal as the Indian guy in Luang Nam Tha said it was his sister. It was. Her samosas were the best I have ever tasted and they just melted in the mouth.

The intellectual lady joined me while I was eating and we talked some more about the jars. I told her that in spite of her misgivings, our guide seemed quite knowledgeable.