a little catch up in asia
Back to civilization! Greg and I left Gabe up in northern Laos six days ago in Vang Vieng where he spent his days tubing, drinking, puking (the first to get the dreaded t.d.), and getting in motorcycle accidents. All is well but I’d say our last 6 days were much more relaxing 
Greg and I took a few night buses from Luang Prabang down to Pakse in the south of Laos where we took another bus and then a boat to Don Khon, a primitive island in the Si Phan Don archipelago of 4,000 islands. It was beautiful! We spent our days swinging in hammocks, reading until the sun set, biking to waterfalls and through rice paddies, watching the rare freshwater dolphins breach the surface and deciding which small guesthouse to eat at every night. We were sad to go, I think we could have spent the whole trip there, so cheap too! But, onwards to Vietnam tonight! It will be our first real experience with the Laos public bus, and it’s a night bus at that. Considering our ‘VIP’ bus from northern Laos to Vientiane broke down for about 4 hours in the middle of the night I’m a bit skeptical about tonight, but we’ll see.
But the best news is the internet is fast enough to upload pictures so here is a collection from the past 10 days starting with our slow boat trip down the Mekong from Thailand to Laos and ending with our departure from Si Phan Don.
This is on our way back from the motorcycle trip from Pai to Chiang Mai in Thailand. This picture was just as the sun began to rise. We found gas (after coasting for 10+km for fear of running out of gas) and we warmed our tummys at a roadside cafe. It was soooo cold before the sun rose and in the wind.
My first motorcycle lesson. I think I scared Greg a little. Fortunately the bike was small enough that he could reach around me to steer if need be. haha
The ‘ferry’ over to load the slow boat for the two day trip to Luang Prabang
As you can imagine the engines to the longtail boats break quite often.
The slowboats lined up to load people (tourists) up
We slept in a small village called Pak Beng during our slowboat cruise. This is the morning we departed
Cruisin the Mekong
The first day we arrived in Luang Prabang Greg and I opted to rent bikes to ride the 35km to some waterfalls, (Gabe and our new friends took a tuk tuk). We chose the cheaper of the two bikes, the one speed cruiser. The ‘gentle road’ turned out to be a bit more hilly than we thought so there was a lot of walking. (this road really was quite steep, the picture is deceiving..haha)
This was just a small waterfall we saw near the edge of the road
And this is who’s backyard it was in…wouldn’t that be nice!
Our faithful one speeds (although Greg’s peddle did fall off so we had to walk until we found a guy who could repair it)
We finally made it to the main falls, they were beautiful and made up so many different pools
The big one is behind Greg
We then hiked up to the upper falls where we had to traverse across the top of the big waterfall (see above picture). At the top there was a tiny fence that warned us of the edge, this is how close we got though. This drop was about 75 feet, the one below it was about 150ft.
Three of the pools had swimming areas, this one had a rope swing too. Greg started us off, showin how it’s done.
Luang Prabang was a beautiful little city. Much more western than we were expecting, and much more expensive.
A wat (temple) in town
The first of many sunsets. We caught this one on our way to the nightbus to head down south
Skip ahead two nightbuses later and we are heading to Don Khon in the south of Laos
Our first afternoon was spent pretty much like this.
The view from our hut
Most the locals had their own boats used mainly for fishing and transport to the mainland
We rented bikes both days and traversed the islands. The roads were so bumpy, I’m shocked we didn’t get a flat!
This was the french built loading pier at the south end of Don Khon. The only bridge the French built in Laos during their occupation was on the north end of this island connecting to a smaller island (but more touristy) called Don Det.
Catching the last bit of light reading until the sun set.
Early morning ride back to the mainland
mmm sticky rice
Off to Vietnam now, we’ll be doing the southern coast for five or six days before heading into Cambodia.
We’ll try and post again soon!
K&G
Leave a Reply