From Phom Penh we arrived in the beach town of Sianouksville, Cambodia's 3rd tourist hot spot after the capital itself and Siem Reap. Although the place felt seedy and had a famous reputation for bag snatching and scams, when we arrived at the beach for sunset and grabbed a couple of very cheap drinks, we felt great to be on the beach again after 2 1/2 months.
We took a boat snorkelling and spent part of the day on 'Bamboo Island' sitting in the hot hot sea watching poor tourists get urchins in their extremities.
The downside to Sianouksville as we saw it was the amount of children working and begging on the beach. There were also plenty of adults doing the same thing, and Kae and I had to develop tactics such as speaking in pretend French to deflect them. One young boy offered to play a game of naughts and crosses. If I win I get a free bracelet, if I lose I buy a bracelet. I naively asked him how much the bracelet might cost me, and then quickly changed my mind and said we should just play for fun. He told me that he hopes my plane will crash on my flight home, told me ''you are bad man" for emphasis and then sauntered off to the next table to do the same thing all over again.
The upside of the seaside town is the ridiculously cheap seafood bbq. 3 large prawns, a barracuda fillet and 3 squids with chips and salad for $2.50, with cold draught beer at 50c a glass. We had this exact same meal three times before we left.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Phnom Penh
In Phnom Penh we set ourselves up in a little windowless room and spent 5 days drinking fancy cocktails in classy colonial buildings such as the Foreign Correspondants Club, and places with a swimming pool and eating luxurious Western food like fondue and top class pizza for $6 a pop. We got a taste of the high life and our budget has never been the same since!
Kratchie
After a panic in Ban Lung, where we couldn't take out any money with Káe's Cirrus card, we wired $400 over with Western Transfer, at just under a 10% charge. With this we took the bus to Kratchie, and cycled with a Leed's gap year guy called Will and a Liverpudlian who hates football called Ed to find the rare irrawaddy dolphin, a freshwater dolphin with stumpy heads found in the Mekong.
There are meant to be only about 75 left in the river, and we must have seen all of them. We spent about 45 minutes in a hired boat and they kept bobbing up to breath all around us! Endangered my arse.
The cycle to and fro was great, and the Cambodians were proving to be just as friendly as the Laoatians, with a more savvy attitude and extremely good English from the earliest age.
One of the most talkative characters I've met runs a book shop in Kratchie, and among recommending an itinerary for Angkor Wat, he told us a little about the effects of the recent war with the Khmer Rouge. He had some friendly, equally overtly camp staff sitting watching telly across the shop and he pointed to one saying "his parents did very well out of the war, and were Khmer Rouge," he pointed to the guy sat next to him and said, "his parents suffered terribly at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, but noone talks about any of it, even though everyone over 40 has some memory of it."
Even with all the political undercurrents, the disturbing amounts of one legged landmine victims, more begging than I have ever seen by the old, the crippled and children, and more children working and selling things than I'm comfortable with, and so far really bad food, we were both starting to enjoy travelling through Cambodia.
There are meant to be only about 75 left in the river, and we must have seen all of them. We spent about 45 minutes in a hired boat and they kept bobbing up to breath all around us! Endangered my arse.
The cycle to and fro was great, and the Cambodians were proving to be just as friendly as the Laoatians, with a more savvy attitude and extremely good English from the earliest age.
One of the most talkative characters I've met runs a book shop in Kratchie, and among recommending an itinerary for Angkor Wat, he told us a little about the effects of the recent war with the Khmer Rouge. He had some friendly, equally overtly camp staff sitting watching telly across the shop and he pointed to one saying "his parents did very well out of the war, and were Khmer Rouge," he pointed to the guy sat next to him and said, "his parents suffered terribly at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, but noone talks about any of it, even though everyone over 40 has some memory of it."
Even with all the political undercurrents, the disturbing amounts of one legged landmine victims, more begging than I have ever seen by the old, the crippled and children, and more children working and selling things than I'm comfortable with, and so far really bad food, we were both starting to enjoy travelling through Cambodia.
Cambodia, Ban Lung
The Laos-Cambodian border crossing is a little suspect. Cambodian officials charge a dollar here for taking your temperature, a dollar there for ádministration', but they've been the same for years so we don't think too much of it. According to some watchdog, Cambodia is the 13th most corrupt country out of 162 on record, although how they measure this I don't know.
Cambodia also has the most active landmines sitting around than any country in the world!
Watch your step, then.
We carried on our bus journey to Ban Lung, and what a mess. It looked to me like someone had eaten a town in Laos and puked it back up in Cambodia. Kaeleigh said it reminded her of India.
We found a gigantic room here for $5, with a huge bath tub and telly etc. Easily the best bargain accomodation to date.
We did a day trip with guides on motos to some waterfalls, a 90 minute elephant ride where the elephant mosied around eating bamboo and drinking, and a long swim in a volcanic crater lake.
During this we were served the first meal that we couldn't stomach, $5 worth of old, dried meat. I was thinking of what I was told on the cooking course in Laos: "more flies, more flavour". and we gave the whole thing to our tourguides.
Walking around the lake after a swim, we saw 2 big snakes rush past us, both over 2m long. We told our guide, who hunts for them in the dry season. He reckoned on cobras, and said you can get $10 per kilo at the markets for them.
Cambodia also has the most active landmines sitting around than any country in the world!
Watch your step, then.
We carried on our bus journey to Ban Lung, and what a mess. It looked to me like someone had eaten a town in Laos and puked it back up in Cambodia. Kaeleigh said it reminded her of India.
We found a gigantic room here for $5, with a huge bath tub and telly etc. Easily the best bargain accomodation to date.
We did a day trip with guides on motos to some waterfalls, a 90 minute elephant ride where the elephant mosied around eating bamboo and drinking, and a long swim in a volcanic crater lake.
During this we were served the first meal that we couldn't stomach, $5 worth of old, dried meat. I was thinking of what I was told on the cooking course in Laos: "more flies, more flavour". and we gave the whole thing to our tourguides.
Walking around the lake after a swim, we saw 2 big snakes rush past us, both over 2m long. We told our guide, who hunts for them in the dry season. He reckoned on cobras, and said you can get $10 per kilo at the markets for them.
Don Det (4000 Islands)
Our last stop in Laos, Don Det is one of 4000 Island in the river Mekong near the Cambodian border.
The main event of our 2 nights here was a guy we met in Luang Prabang's 30th birthday party. It was about 30 people strong, and after the bar we headed down to the beach where I made a fire and it was a good way to finish our trip through Laos.
We found a Minsk motorbike for sale on the island for $200, and decided to buy it from them to travel through Cambodia on if they could fix the headlight, horn and indicators. Unfortunately they couldn't do this before our visa had overrun by 2 days, and we caught up with our bus by moto at the Cambodian border.
The main event of our 2 nights here was a guy we met in Luang Prabang's 30th birthday party. It was about 30 people strong, and after the bar we headed down to the beach where I made a fire and it was a good way to finish our trip through Laos.
We found a Minsk motorbike for sale on the island for $200, and decided to buy it from them to travel through Cambodia on if they could fix the headlight, horn and indicators. Unfortunately they couldn't do this before our visa had overrun by 2 days, and we caught up with our bus by moto at the Cambodian border.
Tha Kaek
Still with Tim, Nath, Francis and Brad, we took the bus to Tha Kaek and stayed the night in the seediest guesthouse to date.
We managed to arrange a 3 day, 450km motorbike tour the next day, with a boat trip through the 7km long Kong Lo cave as the main attraction. A Dutch girl called Juliette joined us at the last minute, and the 7 of us sped off on 4 scooters.
This trip turned out to be a stormer thanks to a variation of good and bad roads, gutsy little scooters, cheap repair shops, lot's of cathedral sized caves and running rivers to get stuck into, plenty of great views, meals and people and some time spent in rural Laos.
After a couple of hours the first obstacle was Juliette's bike leaking oil. We flagged down a few people and finally managed to make a phone call and have her bike replaced. Tim's bike had 3 punctures over the 3 days, one at 85kph, and he held the skid brilliantly! Kae burnt her leg badly on our exhaust, Nath rode his bike into a tree next to him from a standing start, with the damage to the stand being fixed Clarkson style with a hammer, I somehow got halfway through a doughnut when accidentally starting my bike in 1st gear, Neither Tim and Nath's bike or mine and Kae's bike had a working headlight or rearlight, and we all drove back for about over an hour in the dark on the last night, extremely carefully because of how many maniac farm animals wander about, and everyone apart from me and Kae ran out of petrol at least once.
These slightly dramatic moments transmogrified the trip, and made surviving the journey more rewarding. Other hightlights include the final day's mazy mountain road climb and decent, with perfectly smooth roads and ancient forest all around; the 62km off-road track on the second day, that took over 3 hours and was not suitable for scooters, but cut through more great rainforest; stopping whenever we liked for a drink or some food or a break, which was a great freedom after months of bus and train travel; meeting and greeting the locals, especially with Nath, the only person as enthusiastic as the Laos people; Kong Lo cave, which is 7km long, and at some points 100m wide and tall, with a lit up section that we explored on foot that looked like another planet, cheesy sci-fi scenery style; the thank-god-it's-all-over dinner and drinks.
We managed to arrange a 3 day, 450km motorbike tour the next day, with a boat trip through the 7km long Kong Lo cave as the main attraction. A Dutch girl called Juliette joined us at the last minute, and the 7 of us sped off on 4 scooters.
This trip turned out to be a stormer thanks to a variation of good and bad roads, gutsy little scooters, cheap repair shops, lot's of cathedral sized caves and running rivers to get stuck into, plenty of great views, meals and people and some time spent in rural Laos.
After a couple of hours the first obstacle was Juliette's bike leaking oil. We flagged down a few people and finally managed to make a phone call and have her bike replaced. Tim's bike had 3 punctures over the 3 days, one at 85kph, and he held the skid brilliantly! Kae burnt her leg badly on our exhaust, Nath rode his bike into a tree next to him from a standing start, with the damage to the stand being fixed Clarkson style with a hammer, I somehow got halfway through a doughnut when accidentally starting my bike in 1st gear, Neither Tim and Nath's bike or mine and Kae's bike had a working headlight or rearlight, and we all drove back for about over an hour in the dark on the last night, extremely carefully because of how many maniac farm animals wander about, and everyone apart from me and Kae ran out of petrol at least once.
These slightly dramatic moments transmogrified the trip, and made surviving the journey more rewarding. Other hightlights include the final day's mazy mountain road climb and decent, with perfectly smooth roads and ancient forest all around; the 62km off-road track on the second day, that took over 3 hours and was not suitable for scooters, but cut through more great rainforest; stopping whenever we liked for a drink or some food or a break, which was a great freedom after months of bus and train travel; meeting and greeting the locals, especially with Nath, the only person as enthusiastic as the Laos people; Kong Lo cave, which is 7km long, and at some points 100m wide and tall, with a lit up section that we explored on foot that looked like another planet, cheesy sci-fi scenery style; the thank-god-it's-all-over dinner and drinks.
VangVieng
Throughout Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, travellers would mention this place to us because of one thing: Tubing. It's not floating down a river on a tractors inner tube that they would talk about, thought - it's their new , the injuries they saw, and how several people die every year on the massive rope swings and giant slides!
We took a seriously sweaty bus with the lads from Luang Prabang to the capital, Vientiene, and stopped there while Tim extended his visa. After 5 hours, in which Kae bought 2 new dvds for 5000kip each, we were happy to be moving on from the slightly depressing city and towards the tourist hole of Vang Vieng.
Kae and I found a room on a cliff edge with beautiful views of forests and sheer cliffs, and unfortunately overlooking the late night clubs. Walking around the small town and we heard The Simpsons, Family Guy or Friends on repeat in every otherwise identical restaurant, serving the worst food in Laos. There are easily twice as many Westerners than locals, and everyone has the same idea - get drunk and go tubing! So we put on our sheep's clothing and joined the herd.
Happily, the Northerners we met in China were about, and we joined them for some drinks and went rock climbing with Tom the next morning, where we learnt the 'pinch' technique. So there we were pinching our way up rock faces, and for all the sweating and pinching and struggling, it was great. We did two climbs, a level 6A and 7A climb, but my pinching wasn't up to the 7A climb.
That afternoon Kae and I went to meet the lads at the tubing, where we saw the huge rope swings and riverside bars. I hadn't the strength in my grip to open my can of beer, thanks to a slow and painful defeat on the 7A rock face, and couldn't hold onto a rope swing. There are better reasons not to swing back and forth 40 feet in the air with potentially fatal consequences, but mine was weedy forearms. In any case it was pretty spectacular to sit and watch. There were a couple of dangerous moments where people got tangled up in the ropes, one person round the neck, and although they screamed and panicked a bit, no-one was hurt.
A couple of days in this town was enough for us. We had been enjoying the Laos lifestyle and people and Vang Vieng had neither, so we left for Tha Kaek, and a 3 day motorbike tour.
We took a seriously sweaty bus with the lads from Luang Prabang to the capital, Vientiene, and stopped there while Tim extended his visa. After 5 hours, in which Kae bought 2 new dvds for 5000kip each, we were happy to be moving on from the slightly depressing city and towards the tourist hole of Vang Vieng.
Kae and I found a room on a cliff edge with beautiful views of forests and sheer cliffs, and unfortunately overlooking the late night clubs. Walking around the small town and we heard The Simpsons, Family Guy or Friends on repeat in every otherwise identical restaurant, serving the worst food in Laos. There are easily twice as many Westerners than locals, and everyone has the same idea - get drunk and go tubing! So we put on our sheep's clothing and joined the herd.
Happily, the Northerners we met in China were about, and we joined them for some drinks and went rock climbing with Tom the next morning, where we learnt the 'pinch' technique. So there we were pinching our way up rock faces, and for all the sweating and pinching and struggling, it was great. We did two climbs, a level 6A and 7A climb, but my pinching wasn't up to the 7A climb.
That afternoon Kae and I went to meet the lads at the tubing, where we saw the huge rope swings and riverside bars. I hadn't the strength in my grip to open my can of beer, thanks to a slow and painful defeat on the 7A rock face, and couldn't hold onto a rope swing. There are better reasons not to swing back and forth 40 feet in the air with potentially fatal consequences, but mine was weedy forearms. In any case it was pretty spectacular to sit and watch. There were a couple of dangerous moments where people got tangled up in the ropes, one person round the neck, and although they screamed and panicked a bit, no-one was hurt.
A couple of days in this town was enough for us. We had been enjoying the Laos lifestyle and people and Vang Vieng had neither, so we left for Tha Kaek, and a 3 day motorbike tour.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Luang Prabang and Laos new year
We had booked our guesthouse a week earlier while in LP the first time, as prices double and triple and rooms are hard to find. So we make a dash for the room as soon as the minibus stops and we successfully dodge the waterfight mayhem and keep our backpacks dry.
LP has a curfew, at 11.30pm all the bars close, but we found a way around this by sitting in the gardens after the staff had gone home, and bumped into a guy called Tim who we had had a beer with in Nong Khiaw, and his mate Phil, and then their travel friends Francis, Brad, Nath and 2 Danish girls. After leaving LP, we were to travel together with ''the lads'' for a couple of weeks.
We were'nt ready or steady for this 9 day long water, flour and ink fight, never mind armed well enough. Luckily we had been warned not to carry anything you wouldn't take swimming. All throughout the city, which had grown from 20,000 people to a guesstimate of 300,000 people, small and big groups of Laoatians stand dancing and drinking every 10 - 20 meters next to barrels of water, soaking everyone who walks, runs, scoots or sneaks past with happy shouts of "Pee Mai Laos" "Happy New Year". If they don't soak us, they give us a glass with ice and fill it with the tasty beerLao or rice wine and demand - sometimes for spiritual reasons, sometimes because they are extremely generous and sometimes because they are bladdered - we down it pronto, force feed us extremely spicy cabbage and then refill the glass to down it again, again and again until at least one of us staggers away. All the while with crazy cow bell Lao music blaring from gangs standing and cruising on pick up trucks and old army jeeps throwing water around, and live bands playing Michael Bouble covers. Immense.
The party kicked off in a big way every day way before lunchtime. On the third full day there was a huge party organised on an island in the river. Massive tents and food and drinks stalls were set up for easily 10,000 people. This is where the great sandcastle (or sandpile) competition takes place, overlooked by military officials.
Animals are released on the 16th, and so it was in a quieter area near the loos at this island party that Kae and Francis and I released 2 small birds from cages, which we had bought from the market for 5000kip each. Fish are also released (and turtles and snakes apparently, but we didn't see any).
We all had flour gleefully rubbed into our faces and hair (a natural shampoo, if dry. A natural glue if wet) from every angle, especially on the island. All foreigners get extra attention, but even then the locals seemed to especially aim for Kae. We bought some flour and joined in. This is also where the ink fight started, with children with black or yellow or red hands running through the crowds and coming atcha like the beginning of a Daz White advert.
The lot of us decided to get the ferry back to the mainland, and walked right into a trap. We were led to an empty boat and asked to sit and wait for it to fill up while insanely manic tireless men and women splashed us contantly for at least 20 minutes.
The next couple of days merged into a blur of water fighting and drinks. Morning hangovers were cured by strolling out of the guesthouse towards a chicken sandwich, getting soaked, eating a sandwich and coke and then get more soaked on the walk back. Rockets were fired into the air intermittently, said to encourage rainfall, which would be a blessing as the water is said to be a way of washing away the sins of the previous year. Some of the kids and women were very sweet when they poured water from a bucket down your shoulders, and the symbolism and belief that the water purifies you for a fresh start in the new year is sometimes very clear. On the other hand, there's always the odd fat old German who chases you down the street with his oversized super soaker, as if he wished he were firing live rounds.
On the morning of the 16th there is the biggest alms giving ceremony of the year, where monks travel to Luang Prabang smaller towns and villages, and they all walk along the main street next to the temple on a high hill, carrying bowls or baskets. People are sat waiting for them to come past with food to put into their baskets to curry favour with the spirits.
Alms giving happens every day at dawn, but this one is the biggie and we weren't going to miss it because of a hangover, neither were we to sensibly go to bed early, so the 7 of us stayed up overnight, drinking beers outside mine and Kae's guesthouse. During this session, we sat up chatting with the police and drinking water at their open air station. When 5.30am came, I woke Kae up and we all trundled down to the main street. I bought a load of rice with fish and mango wrapped in banana leaves to give to the monks, and they were so delicious I ate some of them myself. But only one or two, or three, and I was encouraged to by a Loas lady, and I definitely gave most of them most respectfully to the monks, so don't believe Kae if she tells you different.
On the last and 6th full day we stayed in LP, there was one huge rain and thunderstorm. Kae and I had decided to climb the big hill with a temple on top to see the city from above before we left, and just as we began the rain began to pour like I've never seen before. We took some shelter at the top and on the way down the long winding staircase had turned into a fast flowing, muddy river. At the bottom of the hill, scooters were ploughing through flooded streets, and just like every day but this time for over 12 hours, the power went down. That evening we struggled to find food, and the next day we headed for Laos' famous 24 hour party town, Vang Vieng.
LP has a curfew, at 11.30pm all the bars close, but we found a way around this by sitting in the gardens after the staff had gone home, and bumped into a guy called Tim who we had had a beer with in Nong Khiaw, and his mate Phil, and then their travel friends Francis, Brad, Nath and 2 Danish girls. After leaving LP, we were to travel together with ''the lads'' for a couple of weeks.
We were'nt ready or steady for this 9 day long water, flour and ink fight, never mind armed well enough. Luckily we had been warned not to carry anything you wouldn't take swimming. All throughout the city, which had grown from 20,000 people to a guesstimate of 300,000 people, small and big groups of Laoatians stand dancing and drinking every 10 - 20 meters next to barrels of water, soaking everyone who walks, runs, scoots or sneaks past with happy shouts of "Pee Mai Laos" "Happy New Year". If they don't soak us, they give us a glass with ice and fill it with the tasty beerLao or rice wine and demand - sometimes for spiritual reasons, sometimes because they are extremely generous and sometimes because they are bladdered - we down it pronto, force feed us extremely spicy cabbage and then refill the glass to down it again, again and again until at least one of us staggers away. All the while with crazy cow bell Lao music blaring from gangs standing and cruising on pick up trucks and old army jeeps throwing water around, and live bands playing Michael Bouble covers. Immense.
The party kicked off in a big way every day way before lunchtime. On the third full day there was a huge party organised on an island in the river. Massive tents and food and drinks stalls were set up for easily 10,000 people. This is where the great sandcastle (or sandpile) competition takes place, overlooked by military officials.
Animals are released on the 16th, and so it was in a quieter area near the loos at this island party that Kae and Francis and I released 2 small birds from cages, which we had bought from the market for 5000kip each. Fish are also released (and turtles and snakes apparently, but we didn't see any).
We all had flour gleefully rubbed into our faces and hair (a natural shampoo, if dry. A natural glue if wet) from every angle, especially on the island. All foreigners get extra attention, but even then the locals seemed to especially aim for Kae. We bought some flour and joined in. This is also where the ink fight started, with children with black or yellow or red hands running through the crowds and coming atcha like the beginning of a Daz White advert.
The lot of us decided to get the ferry back to the mainland, and walked right into a trap. We were led to an empty boat and asked to sit and wait for it to fill up while insanely manic tireless men and women splashed us contantly for at least 20 minutes.
The next couple of days merged into a blur of water fighting and drinks. Morning hangovers were cured by strolling out of the guesthouse towards a chicken sandwich, getting soaked, eating a sandwich and coke and then get more soaked on the walk back. Rockets were fired into the air intermittently, said to encourage rainfall, which would be a blessing as the water is said to be a way of washing away the sins of the previous year. Some of the kids and women were very sweet when they poured water from a bucket down your shoulders, and the symbolism and belief that the water purifies you for a fresh start in the new year is sometimes very clear. On the other hand, there's always the odd fat old German who chases you down the street with his oversized super soaker, as if he wished he were firing live rounds.
On the morning of the 16th there is the biggest alms giving ceremony of the year, where monks travel to Luang Prabang smaller towns and villages, and they all walk along the main street next to the temple on a high hill, carrying bowls or baskets. People are sat waiting for them to come past with food to put into their baskets to curry favour with the spirits.
Alms giving happens every day at dawn, but this one is the biggie and we weren't going to miss it because of a hangover, neither were we to sensibly go to bed early, so the 7 of us stayed up overnight, drinking beers outside mine and Kae's guesthouse. During this session, we sat up chatting with the police and drinking water at their open air station. When 5.30am came, I woke Kae up and we all trundled down to the main street. I bought a load of rice with fish and mango wrapped in banana leaves to give to the monks, and they were so delicious I ate some of them myself. But only one or two, or three, and I was encouraged to by a Loas lady, and I definitely gave most of them most respectfully to the monks, so don't believe Kae if she tells you different.
On the last and 6th full day we stayed in LP, there was one huge rain and thunderstorm. Kae and I had decided to climb the big hill with a temple on top to see the city from above before we left, and just as we began the rain began to pour like I've never seen before. We took some shelter at the top and on the way down the long winding staircase had turned into a fast flowing, muddy river. At the bottom of the hill, scooters were ploughing through flooded streets, and just like every day but this time for over 12 hours, the power went down. That evening we struggled to find food, and the next day we headed for Laos' famous 24 hour party town, Vang Vieng.
Nong Khiaw
Lao new years is partly one big 10 day long nationwide waterfight, and on 9th and 10th of April we got splashed and drenched and bet beer money on village vs village boat races. Then back on the minibus for 6 days in Luang Prabang where it really kicks off.
Muong Ngoi
4 hours north of Luang Prabang and 1 hour by boat is the small and lazy village Muong Ngoi. We met John the Canadian veteran, Dale the English English teacher and damn I've forgotten the name of the Portugese advertiser. We were neighbours for 5 days, staying with a crazy, funny landlady that poured us unlimited lao lao and when Kae caught a chicaca she put it in her mouth and let it buzz and rattle behind her teeth just to show off. When I chased off a spider the size of a cowpat from our room she told us forlornly that she would have had it for dinner.
The 5 of us took a days fishing trip with the landlady's brother Kao and his 2 amigos. First they showed us how they catch fish with their bare hands by speading a long vertical net like a fence and then pulling net to fence in the fish, then they dive around trying to grab it. They caught 5 fish and we tried to help by pulling the net a bit. A great days fishing because they told us that sometimes they catch nothing. We even caught the really big one that got away.
As 2 of the guys made a fire by the river we explored a long cave, and came back to a great picnic lunch and a hell of a lot of lao lao. 2 of the guides were plastered and couldn't stop laughing at some daft song, and the other guy who was driving the boat was only a bit smashed. We carried on with the drinking and eating of spicy cabbage while floating back on tractor inner tubes, paddling over to the boat whenever it was our turn to have a shot.
The laos guys invited us to a local party, where we were given non stop free shots of more lao lao by the most solemn man at the party, danced different versions of the hokey kokey and macarena but laos style with cow bells, and ate (were force fed) really dodgy spicy crab and cabbage that put dale in bed for the next few days. Kae was paraded around by the most drunk of our guides, a tiny man that the locals call ''baby'', who apparently told people Kae was his girlfriend when I wasn't around.
The next afternoon I played football with the local lads, it was about 20 a side on a pitch made of cowpats and ankle twisting bumps. The very solemn man from last night turned up and was an absolute laughing stock for over an hour. Charlie Chaplin couldn't have been better, nor half as serious.
The 5 of us foreigners went on a long walk and found a cave that you swim through to explore. John had a waterproof headlight on and after I had swam ahead I went back to get him. The fact that the man had fought in Afganistan for 7 months made his scream when a bat flew at his head even funnier. In fairness it was a really big bat, and I might have screamed a bit too.
We carried on walking for a couple of hours and played laos' favourite game boules with a man in a tiny village, ate cabbage soup and walked back hungry and defeated.
Another game of football, and time to move on to Nong Khiaw where Laos new year starts early.
The 5 of us took a days fishing trip with the landlady's brother Kao and his 2 amigos. First they showed us how they catch fish with their bare hands by speading a long vertical net like a fence and then pulling net to fence in the fish, then they dive around trying to grab it. They caught 5 fish and we tried to help by pulling the net a bit. A great days fishing because they told us that sometimes they catch nothing. We even caught the really big one that got away.
As 2 of the guys made a fire by the river we explored a long cave, and came back to a great picnic lunch and a hell of a lot of lao lao. 2 of the guides were plastered and couldn't stop laughing at some daft song, and the other guy who was driving the boat was only a bit smashed. We carried on with the drinking and eating of spicy cabbage while floating back on tractor inner tubes, paddling over to the boat whenever it was our turn to have a shot.
The laos guys invited us to a local party, where we were given non stop free shots of more lao lao by the most solemn man at the party, danced different versions of the hokey kokey and macarena but laos style with cow bells, and ate (were force fed) really dodgy spicy crab and cabbage that put dale in bed for the next few days. Kae was paraded around by the most drunk of our guides, a tiny man that the locals call ''baby'', who apparently told people Kae was his girlfriend when I wasn't around.
The next afternoon I played football with the local lads, it was about 20 a side on a pitch made of cowpats and ankle twisting bumps. The very solemn man from last night turned up and was an absolute laughing stock for over an hour. Charlie Chaplin couldn't have been better, nor half as serious.
The 5 of us foreigners went on a long walk and found a cave that you swim through to explore. John had a waterproof headlight on and after I had swam ahead I went back to get him. The fact that the man had fought in Afganistan for 7 months made his scream when a bat flew at his head even funnier. In fairness it was a really big bat, and I might have screamed a bit too.
We carried on walking for a couple of hours and played laos' favourite game boules with a man in a tiny village, ate cabbage soup and walked back hungry and defeated.
Another game of football, and time to move on to Nong Khiaw where Laos new year starts early.
Luang Prabang
On a comfortable double bed sleeper bus straight to Luang Prabang, Laos' second city with 20 odd thousand people, and we arrived with the Slovaks at a night market full of farang. White people everywhere! Too much white people, we agreed, diving for bottles of the cheap and tasty national treasure BeerLao, some fruit shakes, baguettes, and pork chop and chicken bbq. We ate almost no meat in China because of their stingy portions. A chicken noodle soup would get you a quarter of a boiled chicken neck in plenty of noodles and soup. We made up for lost time, and spent 4 days in the lively city and took a cooking course.
The cooking course taught us a lot. We learnt, walking around the meat market that ''more flies, more flavour''. Meat and veg bought off of the floor costs less than if bought off of a table. Fermented fish sauce is made by putting fish bits in water in the sun and waiting a year (in this case, flies mean bad fish sauce). Rat stew tastes much worse than locusts. Sticky rice is made by soaking the rice in water overnight, and rice wine (lao lao - 50%proof but who's counting?) is made by boiling this leftover water for 8-10 days. We learnt about what to do with some herbs and spices I've not seen before and wouldn't want to see again, and because sticky rice makes you sleepy, "no sticky rice, no lao people''.
There was no blow torching dogs in this market, and we moved on to the outdoor kitchen where we made 5 or 6 dishes, the best being not chicken stuffed with lemongrass, but chicken and herbs stuffed in lemongrass.
The cooking course taught us a lot. We learnt, walking around the meat market that ''more flies, more flavour''. Meat and veg bought off of the floor costs less than if bought off of a table. Fermented fish sauce is made by putting fish bits in water in the sun and waiting a year (in this case, flies mean bad fish sauce). Rat stew tastes much worse than locusts. Sticky rice is made by soaking the rice in water overnight, and rice wine (lao lao - 50%proof but who's counting?) is made by boiling this leftover water for 8-10 days. We learnt about what to do with some herbs and spices I've not seen before and wouldn't want to see again, and because sticky rice makes you sleepy, "no sticky rice, no lao people''.
There was no blow torching dogs in this market, and we moved on to the outdoor kitchen where we made 5 or 6 dishes, the best being not chicken stuffed with lemongrass, but chicken and herbs stuffed in lemongrass.
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