Laidback Laos

We are writing this blog as we take a slow boat up the Mekong River as we close out the last leg of our quick journey through Laos.  It is pronounced with or without the “s” and either way is acceptable. 

Laos is very different from the other countries we have visited.  Traffic seems to follow some sort of rules.  They don’t honk their horns and they do have some courtesy.  There is also more wealth here than anticipated.  Service on the other hand has taken a big step back.  It’s as if you are putting them out of their way to take a food order or pay for something.  This is very different from the other Asian countries we have visited and hence the “Laidback” moniker.  The other thing about Laos is that it is even hotter than the other countries (not that we thought that was possible).  Daytime highs are averaging in the upper 30’s low 40’s and add on the humidity and it is like being in a greenhouse all the time.

The first stop had us landing in Vientiane, the nation’s capital of 240 000 people which is much smaller than the cities elsewhere.  We only spent a night here before leaving the following day for Vang Vieng.  This is their adventure area of the country.  It was here that we took a 5 hour tube down the Nam Song River.  The river is dotted with bars along the way which heave out a line and drag you in if you want.  Our entire group decided that this would be a good idea and jumped at the opportunity.  It was a lot of fun.  We had an opportunity to mix it up with some of the local children who were also in the water and splashing was the order of the day.  The water quality was not that good and we do have stories on that as well.

Stop three was in Luang Prabang.  Here we did and entire day tour through the area.  The morning had us climbing a waterfall in the rain.  This made for some interesting challenges.  After we made our way to the bear rescue centre.  It is here that the country of Laos takes all the bears (Moon Bears) they have confiscated from the poachers who are trying to take them to China or use them for various things and try and bring them back to health.  It is great that they are trying to do this.  The afternoon had us at an elephant rehabilitation centre.  The elephants have been rescued from work camps where they are worked and beaten to death.  We all got chances to ride them.  I (Dan) got an opportunity to ride one into the Mekong River and give her a bath.  I don’t know who got a bigger bath.  I now know what it is like to get sprayed by an elephant numerous times. 

We have then taken a slow boat up the Mekong River, a lot slower than we would have liked.  The boat kept breaking down and they have to stop to repair the engine.  On the second day the boat broke down twice before the engine caught fire and burned the drive belt leaving us stranded.   Their plan was to see if another boat came along and could take us the remaining 6 ½ hours to our destination.  After banging against the rocks on the side of the river for an hour and a half there was a public boat that stopped and had room for us.  Riding the public boat added to the adventure and there are more stories to tell then there is room here.  Highlights of the public boat trip are that it had to stop to fix its engine as it was also heating up, we had to make random stops literally in the middle of nowhere to let people off on the shore (there were no paths, no roads and no signs of civilization just forest) 

The reason for the two day boat adventure was a home stay stop mid-way through.  This was definitely an experience we will not soon forget.  The boat stopped just before sunset at this little remote village –the only way in or out was by boat.  We exited the boat to find out where we were staying for the night.  Lisa and I could not stay in the same house (even though we were married) because it would anger the spirits.  We could have stayed had we paid the spirits $600 and given then a chicken and a pig.  I guess even spirits have their price.  Needless to say we spent the night in two separate houses.  Keep in mind there is no electricity, which means no fans and it was hot –sweaty stinking hot.  I had the luxury of sleeping on Barney blanket.  The toilet facilities were also very basic.  There was no toilet paper and even if we had some we were not allowed to use it.  There was a bucket of water and you had to use your hand to clean.  We all held it until we got back on the boat the next morning.  Five o’clock didn’t come early enough for any of us.  Lisa had a rough go as the house she was in had a cooking fire going below her house which made it even warmer and very smoky.  She had to use her inhaler for the first time this trip. 

After arriving late because of all the boat breakdowns we had to race to the Thailand border as it closes at 8:00 pm.  We just made it otherwise we would have been a day behind.

Still having fun but getting a little tired.  We will be looking forward to a day break from travel to rest for a day before our next journey begins.

Laos Family Robinson  

Panoramic view from our Bungalow and the Limestone Mountains

Enjoying good company and great scenery in Vang Vieng (until the storm)

Daily rains and thunderstorms in Laos

Typical Laos Landscape

Moon (Asiatic Black) Bear rescued from poachers.  A bit smaller than our black bears.

Cool flowers

Getting ready to climb the edge of the waterfalls.

Crossing the river above the falls.

Feeding the elephants sugar cane (Elephants were rescued from a logging camp)

Enjoying an elephant ride along the river.

Dan getting on the elephant to take it for a bath (unfortunately
he go on backwards and had to turn around)

Heading into the Mekong River for a bath (both were equally wet coming out)
Dan got sprayed by the elephant numerous times (Yum, elephant boogers)

Lisa bathing one of the elephants with Dan on the elephant

Coming out of the river sort of clean.

Riding up the Mekong River

Our private tour boat before it broke down. 

Views along the river

Farms where they slash and burn the hills (rebuild their houses) and try
and plant a crop before the soil washes away

Freight traffic on the Mekong River

Wild Water Buffalo at the rivers edge

Local Fishermen and kids along the river

The village we stayed in.

Lisa's accommodations for the night.

Lisa's house (Dan's was a bit more sketch than this)

Local kids (no diapers needed here)

Locals playing a cross between soccer, volleyball and badminton
at the local school

Typical houses in the village (reed mat walls, bamboo stick floors covered
with reed mats and tin roofs

Leaving our broken boat.

Lisa and Dan tubing down the river

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM

Good Morning Vietnam!!!!

We just had to start this blog with that title.  (We will get back to the normal alliterations when I do the Laos blog).  Being here and hearing some of the names in like being in the movie Good Morning Vietnam.  We can even imagine Robin Williams doing his weather forecasts.  We have not sweat like this ever.  Sorry for not posting sooner but the internet has been slow which makes blogging difficult and the pace of our journey has quickened. 

Vietnam is a stark contrast to Cambodia.  There is a bit more order here and there is not as nearly as much garbage on the streets. They still love to honk their horns and they do this seemingly all the time.  Traffic doesn’t seem to stop at all they just slow down and weave their way through intersections and traffic circles.  Crossing the street as a pedestrian is like playing a human game of frogger.  You just take a leap of faith and keep moving at the same pace and traffic somehow seems to get around you.   There are more motos than we have ever seen and this only intensifies the walking experience.  You can’t walk on the sidewalks because that is where they park their motos.  We took a GoPro video of walking the streets but it was too large to share on the blog.  Suffice it to say it was interesting as cars, buses and motos all came very close.

Our journey had us in a homestay in the Mekong Delta on the first night.  It was hot, humid, mosquito filled and very memorable.  The family was friendly and showed us how to cook a traditional meal.  We all had a chance to try it out.   Our group was awoken before dawn by a large number of roosters who don’t know how to tell time. 

After the homestay we were then city bound and this took us to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). This city has over 5 million motorcycles and scooters.  It was here that we had the opportunity to find out the Vietnamese side of the war story.  This war was brutal on all sides especially the effects of agent orange.  They do love their propaganda as much as we do.  I’m sure the truth about what really happened is out there somewhere. 

 From the busy city streets we took our first night train and headed for the beaches.  The train was called the Reunification Express and seemed to come right out of a 1950’s movie.  Our stop took us to Nha Trang  which they say is the Miami Beach of Vietnam but change the Cubans to Russians.  We do have stories to tell about the various Russians we had the opportunity to encounter.  It was here that we had a chance to go snorkeling and see if their boating skills were same as their road driving skills.  The snorkeling was very good and we took lots of photos but again too many to post here.  Their boat driving skills are very different.  We have included a photo of the harbor.  Look at the number of tires (tyres) around each vessel.  These are not just for good looks.  They smash into each other and the docks with seemingly no regard for courtesy and they all hope the tires will slow down the damage.  It was definitely an adventure we will not forget.

Hoi An was our next stop.  This quaint like UNESCO World Heritage Site was a welcome step back from the fast paced city life.  This town is known for its tailors.  We arrived early after another night train and headed straight for one of the tailor shops to see what they could do.  We did have to choose our shops wisely as some of them still use child labour.  In the end I got two suits, six dress shirts (I made sure they were not shinny this time) and Lisa got one dress, two shirts and two pairs of shorts (cost 650).  In the afternoon we were going on bike ride to ride a water buffalo or so we thought.  It ended up being a four hour ride through the countryside and included so much more.  It was here that we all got a chance to water local vegetables, ride on the dykes between rice paddies, of course ride the water buffalo, load our bikes on a boat and float back into town at sunset and then ride our bikes through the city streets back to our hotel.  Lisa was a little freaked out trying to cross intersections but I had a blast and weaved through traffic with relative ease.   The next morning saw us up early and heading to Marble Mountain to do some abseiling (which is like rappelling).  It was here that we did three descents, two into caves and one on the outside of the mountain.  The last one was the by far the coolest, scariest and most interesting.  It was 57 meters into a cave where we ended up standing on the backside of a temple alter.  We were like real life Indiana Jones’.  Our last morning had us at a cooking class where we learned how to cook five traditional Vietnamese dishes from a chef who cooked for Gordon Ramsey.  It was a great experience.

We then took another night train and man was this one an experience we won’t soon forget.  The train was overbooked, the air conditioning was not working in our car, the cockroaches were everywhere, there were people sleeping in our car that had to be evicted and we had to find new sheets and the guy sharing our car had a bad cold which he spread to the rest of us.   But where we ended up was truly spectacular.  A few hour shuttle bus ride from the train station had us in Halong Bay.  This area is a resort type town with Karst (Limestone) Island dotting the horizon.  We had an opportunity to take a boat ride through the islands.  It was spectacular.  We even kayaked into some of the caves along the way. 

Our last stop in Vietnam was in Hanoi.  This is where the traffic was at its craziest and the streets at their narrowest.  We did an 8 hour walking tour in the rain that showcased the cities history and war stories.  The town has many good restaurants and bars.  We tried out a few.  It was from here that we flew to our next destination in Laos.

Vietnam Family Robinson   

Motos on the go, watch your step.

Motos at the starting gate

Cliff side fishing houses in Phnom Phen

Snorkeling

Bumper boats.  Those tires have a purpose.

View in the night train.

Riding through the rice paddies.

Lisa learning to water.

Wind blow hat

Riding the Water Buffalo

Part of our ride and boat ride adventure in Hoi An

Toilet on the back of the boat.

Motos crossing the river by ferry

Getting ready to abseil 

We abseiled through this

Dan on his way down

The alter we landed behind.  You can see the light from above

Lisa has learned how to use chop sticks at our home meal.

Wearing a fish moustache

Islands of Halong Bay

Selfie at Halong Bay

Floating fishing villages.  The just move them during storms.

More fishing villages

Rock Pillar in one of the island caves

Tour boats waiting for their passengers.

War memorial in Hanoi

Motos parked everywhere.

Lisa is actually tall in Asia

Dan navigating the crowded city streets

This is the sidewalk and why we had to walk on the road

Vietnamese cooking class

Lisa showing off for the teacher

Dan celebrating his "birthday" at the DMZ bar in Hue.  There is a
story here as his birthday isn't until August.

Dan after drinking a flaming volcano on his "birthday".

This is a typical street side restaurant.