South to the 4000 Islands

After spending one last day relaxing in Nong Khiaw, I reluctantly took a series of bus rides back south. My first bus took me to Luang Prabang, where I had to wander around with my pack for 7 hours until the next bus took me to back to Vangvieng, arriving there at 2:30 AM.

    I spent three days visiting Dao, the Lao girl I had met previously. During my travels I have been lucky to experience some more authentic experiences with locals such as in Myanmar with Sian’s family. Meeting Dao resulted in me having an interesting and very enjoyable time in Laos. Staying at her home for four days to attend her mom’s remarriage, eating local Lao food for alarmingly cheap prices (For $1.75 Dao and I could not finish all the food it bought), visiting and eating with her friends and family, I felt very lucky and fortunate to have these experiences.

    Nonetheless, I said goodbye to Dao, left Vangvieng and took the long journey south to the 4000 Islands on the Cambodian border. From leaving Vangvieng, I took a bus to Vientiane, then a tuk tuk to the bus station, an extremely cramped sleeper bus, a minivan to the travel company, another bus, and finally a boat to the islands on the Mekong. Needless to say I was pretty glad to arrive in Don Det, after 22 hours of travel time.

    The 4000 Islands are located on the border of Cambodia. At this point, the mighty Mekong river sprawls out creating a watery landscape dotted with thousands of islands. The Mekong is over a mile wide, awing the viewer when looking out across the huge expanse. With it coming to the latter end of the dry season here, the river is quite low, exposing more islands than during the wet season, when the Mekong transforms into a massive turbulence, rising many meters above where it stands now. Nevertheless, the river is still quite strong, where a swimmer needs to constantly fight against the constant flow south.
   
    I stayed on Don Det, one of the bigger islands that comprises the 4000 Islands. This island is known for being a spot for backpacker looking to relax, swim in the river, and smoke the very available herb sold at any restaurant or hostel. While many people come to visit the 4000 Islands, it is nowhere as touristy or crowded as Vangvieng. This being so, the prices are lower and the island is more relaxed.

    I spent my two days here (would have spent more if my visa was not ending soon) swimming in the strong Mekong, swinging on a rope swing into the river, visiting local eating establishments, and biking to Don Khone island and visiting the awesome series of waterfalls and rapids the Mekong turns into after Don Det. One thing I noticed almost immediately upon arriving is that the temperatures are much hotter now that I moved a considerable distance south. While the humidity is always present, the heat now causes constant sweating, requiring liter and liter of water consumption.

    Staying one month in Laos proved to be an amazing time. I really enjoyed my travels in this small landlocked country, having great experiences, meeting amazing people, and seeing some beautiful areas. I now move on to Cambodia to hopefully gain more fulfilling experiences.

Nong Khiaw & Maung Ngoi

After leaving Luang Namtha, I headed east to the small town of Nong Khiaw, nestled between rising rocky cliffs on the Nam Ou river. While there is not much to do in the town other than eat and hang out, there are lots of different activities to be done in the river and surrounding cliffs. These include renting a tube for $1.25 and floating down the river, kayaking, fishing, trekking and village homestays, hiking up to the viewpoint showing a stunning panorama of the surrounding area, visiting the many caves in the area, or renting a mountain bike for $5/day.

    Upon arriving at my hostel I met another guy from Japan named Tom and we agreed to hike to the viewpoint the following morning to catch the sunrise. The hike was only 2.5k but very steep and even in the “cool” morning temperatures, we were drenched by the top. The views nonetheless were definitely worth the struggle, giving some amazing views of Nong Khiaw and the meandering river which was hidden under soft white clouds yet to be burned off by the rising sun.

    Later that afternoon Tom and I took a one hour boat ride up the Nam Ou river to an even smaller town called Maung Ngoi. With the population of probably 200 people, the town consists of one main dirt road no wider than one car’s width. This does not prove a problem as there are no cars in the town, only the occasional motorbike or bicycle. The town is largely only reached by the river from Nong Khiaw, giving it the feel of a truly off the beaten path place.

    Though being a out of the way place with a small town feel, there are about three or four dozen tours there at a time, engaging in the similar activities  done in Nong Khiaw. My days were spent reading in a low lying hammock on the balcony of my $6/night bungalow, swimming and helping throw the local boys in the river, and visiting the surrounding area via mountain bike.

    After spending two and a half days in Maung Ngoi, I took the cramped boat back to Nong Khiaw, where I spent the day relaxing before making my series of long bus rides south with my eventual destination of Cambodia.

Luang Namtha

      Luang Namtha is located in the very north of Laos only a short drive from China. A small town with few tourist attractions itself, Luang Namtha draws visitors for its trekking and kayaking tours located in the nearby Nam Ha National Park. Within 200 meters on the town’s main road, there are about seven different agencies advertising 1 to 4 day trekking, kayaking, or mountain biking tours of the national park and surrounding villages. Outside each agency, a billboard lists how many people are doing what tour, where the larger the group attracts people as the price is significantly lower than doing a tour alone.

    Spending time shopping around for a tour I wanted, I eventually settled on a 3 day trekking tour. Our group would be led by a guide through the jungle spending one night in a village with a family and the second night camping in the jungle. Unfortunately, the next morning I found out that the group I would trek with had canceled so I settled for a 2 day trek and one night camping in the jungle.

    My group for the two days was comprised of our guide, a 28 year old Lao guy, a 21 year old Japanese guy for only the first day, and two 23 year old French Canadian girls. The trek crisscrossed a creek into the jungle, where bamboo and banana trees grew thick around the trail. The first day we hiked 5 hours, stopping to eat sticky rice, fish, and bamboo shoots for lunch. The weather, like usual, hung heavy around us with both heat and humidity. At the end of uphills, I stood drenched with sweat.

    In the late afternoon, we stopped near a small trickling creek where a simple bamboo lean-to stood next to the trail. This was to be our camping spot for the night. We got to work collected firewood and banana leaves, which would act as both our roof and our bedding. For dinner we ate banana flower, vegetable, egg, and noodle soup with the ever essential sticky rice. For plates and a table, we used banana leaves. Everything else was bamboo; spoons, cups, candlesticks, a shot glass for Lao Lao (homemade rice vodka), even the soup was cooked over the fire in a large bamboo tube. This versatile plant grows everywhere and can be used for almost any perceived need.
   
    After dinner we sat around the campfire, while our guide sang traditional Lao songs and we passed around our bamboo shot glass filled with the potent Lao Lao. Tired from the day, we slept soundly upon the banana leaves as the gentle ripple of the creek murmured in the night.

    The night morning we awoke to drink coffee and eat sticky rice, bamboo shoot soup, and duck before we continued our trek. Soon we came out of the jungle and reached a Lantan village. We quickly became surrounded by curious children, who had been playing in a field outside the village. Carrying with me a bundle of children’s books bought from the NGO Big Brother Mouse in Luang Prabang, I thought this was a great opportunity to hand them out. I passed out the books and was greeted by numerous Kop Chai’s (Thank You’s) from the young children.

    We then entered the village and walked around  for 30 minutes, observing the life, where little children and puppies played in the dirt pathways and adults sat talking and going about their days. One older man came up to us and asked where we were from. Upon me saying America, he raised his eyebrows and proceeded to make motions with his hands of planes flying over and bombs dropping. Unfortunately this is the legacy left by Americans during the Vietnam War in Laos. While many people think that the Vietnam War was waged solely in Vietnam, this is grossly untrue, with enormous damage done to both Laos and Cambodia. Laos, according to my research of the credible Wikipedia, is the heaviest bombed country on Earth, with the total of one B-52 plane’s load of bombs dropped every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for ten years from 1964-1974. Over 2 million bombs still lie in the rural parts of Laos, killing people every year. This atrocious legacy definitely does NOT make me proud to be an American.

    We then left the village and hiked around few hours before reaching our end at a river where we immediately jumped in to cool off in the searing heat. The day was Sunday and was Women’s Day here in Laos, which acted as another reason to guzzle down the BeerLao and Lao Lao and party. Near the river were two large open air tents where a group of 40 Lao people sat eating, drinking, dancing, and talking. Quickly upon arriving the scene, the 2 Canadian girls, our guide, and I were invited to partake in the carousing.
   
    The people enthusiastically invited to sit down (cross legged of course. Chairs are not a thing in SE Asia) around a large array of plates of food. The group of people were from the nearby village. The village chief, the only one who spoke English, talked to us while people drunkenly danced away. Soon enough, we too were among the drunk, as cup after cup of BeerLao was poured and pushed in our direction. We eventually were prodded up to dance with the group, awkwardly swaying to the keyboard accompanied music.

    Staying at the party for about two hours, we walked, or rather stumbled to the nearby road and took a minivan to town. Getting to the road was the last thing I remember before the last BeerLao washed over my brain, blanking any further recollection of my actions. I awoke in the middle of the night confused in the darkness of a foreign room, which I later found was a bungalow that I had checked into with the help of my two also drunken companions. The next day was taken slow for obvious reasons before taking the bus to Nong Khiaw.

Luang Prabang

Leaving Vangvieng, I took the night bus to Luang Prabang. The man who sold me the ticket informed me that I would arrive in Luang Prabang around 5 or 6 AM. Though early, this would be perfectly fine with me as I could go somewhere for breakfast not long after arriving and would not have to spend money on accommodation. Instead, we arrived at probably the worst possible time: 2:30 AM. I, along with a Dutch couple and an English guy, walked the streets of the city trying to find a hostel with an awake staff member. After a handful of failed attempts at finding sleep, we happened upon a guest house with the owner sleeping in the lobby. We awoke him and he pronounced that he only had one bed available. The Dutch couple, being two, paid for the bed. Lucky for myself and the English guy, the owner said we could stay for free in the hallway. He laid down some blankets and we were both happy to be sleeping indoors, rather than wandering the streets in search of somewhere else.

    Luang Prabang is the ancient capital of Laos and is surrounded by small mountains. A World Heritage site, the city sits on the Mekong river, has many cafes, and a large Buddhist monk population in its local wats. Keeping in line with the other places I have visited in Laos, the temperature, coupled with the scorching sun, reach alarmingly high levels in the afternoon everyday, causing most people to hunker down under shade for a large portion of the day.

    My first day in Luang Prabang, I took it easy in the blazing heat by just wandering around the city center, getting accustomed to the area, eating lunch on the Mekong, and reading my book. During the evening, I headed over to an NGO called Big Brother Mouse to help with English practice. Referred to me by a fellow traveler in Vangvieng, Big Brother Mouse is an organization set on improving literacy in Laos. It publishes books and distributes them to rural villages so children, who otherwise do not have access to books, get an opportunity to read. In addition, twice a day they hold English speaking get-togethers for tourists and local Lao people wanting to improve their English. Over my three days in Luang Prabang, I attended three sessions, talking with local university students and one novice monk. It is an awesome organization and the sessions are great to meet and talk with people from different cultures.

    During my next few days I visited the famed Kuang Si waterfall, a beautiful multi leveled waterfall 30k outside the city, visited the difference wats, and cultural sights of the city. I also had an awesome surprise when I was walking from Big Brother Mouse to my hostel on my second day in Luang Prabang. Walking past the center of downtown, I look over to the tables outside the food stalls, and I see my great friend Yoha! I met Yo in Pai in early January and he was the reason I came back to Pai after visiting Sarnelli House. We were both overjoyed to unexpectedly run into each other 1.5 months later. We hung out together for 2 days before we again went our separate ways.

    After spending a couple lazy days in Luang Prabang, I again went north to Luang Namtha, a small town near the China border, famous for trekking in its nearby national park.

Lao I

After taking the train from Bangkok to the Laos border, I crossed the Mekong river and entered country number three (or four if you count my brief trip to India). My first stop was Vientaine, the capital city on the banks of the mighty Mekong. Vientaine, the biggest city in Laos, pales in comparison to neighboring Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. Vientaine has no buildings over, say 6 stories, and looks more like a large town rather than anything city like.

Also unlike Bangkok, there is not a ton of things to do in Vientaine, so I only stayed for two days. I visited the Patuxai Arc, which resembles the French Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the national museum, and the night market. I met a number of people at my hostel, where I spent most of my time hanging out and talking with them. I also noticed that Vientaine and Laos has been the hottest place I have visited in my trip here. Hitting around 40 Celsius, the sun is scorching all afternoon, making you want to stay in the shade as much as possible.

After Vientaine, I took a bus to Vangvieng, a tourist town on a river and some beautiful craggy cliffs. Vangvieng is famous and infamous for its tubing on the river and the bars and drinking that accompany the tubing experience. Years ago nearly 20 bars lined the river, with the carousing and debauchery at extreme levels. Zip lines and rope swings dotted the banks. In one year 27 people died on the river, leading to the police cracking down on the number of bars and the zip lines and rope swings. Today there are still 5 bars, where you can drink bottle after bottle of Beerlao, but it is tamer than in the past. Nonetheless, I went tubing and had a blast, drinking and meeting people from all over the world.

My trip to Vangvieng was also unique by meeting a Lao girl. We spent time together, eating lots of Lao food (sticky rice with everything), while she also taught me some Lao. After only a couple days of knowing each other, she invited me to her town two hours south of Vangvieng to her mom’s remarriage. I accepted the invitation and spent the next four days at her home. No one spoke English except for her elementary English, so to say the least, I did not speak much over those four days. It was interesting to watch the preparations of the wedding, which was held at the home. The women from the nieghborhood cooked seemingly nonstop, the men slaughtered a pig while taking pulls of Lao Lao, the homemade rice vodka. During the weekend I ate copious amounts of sticky rice, laap, and other delicious Lao foods while also drinking Lao Lao with the men and Beerlao at almost every occasion.

After the wedding I went back to Vangvieng for one day before moving north to Luang Prabang.

The name Laos was given by the the colonial French because the largest ethnic group in the region is the Lao people. There are other ethnic groups, especially in the north, with the Hmong, Kmhu, and Lantan peoples. Since Laos is a French word, the S in Laos silent and thus should be pronounced "Lao", similar to Illinois.

Here's a video of my first week in Laos. For those who are squeamish, there is a butchering of a pig. You have been warned.

Mandalay, BKK, & into Lao

After making an arduous exit out of the Chin state, I arrived back in Mandalay with two days before my flight back to Bangkok. Arriving from my bus at 6:00 am after getting no more than two hours of sleep, my first day in Mandalay did not yield much sightseeing. Quite tired, I walked slowly in the relentless heat to the Grand Palace. Costing $10 to enter, which is outrageously expensive here in SE Asia, foreigners are only allowed to stay on the main road and can only view the Grand Palace. While the palace was interesting and impressive to see, it needless to say was not worth the $10 fee and 20 minutes to view the area.

That afternoon I met a woman who has biked around much of the world and currently biking Myanmar and Thailand and we arranged to rent a motorbike and tour the city together. Rising in the dark, we traced the normally chaotic Mandalay streets, which were happily quite empty. We arrived just before sunrise at the famous U Bien bridge, which is one of the longest teak bridges in the world covering a distance of 1.2 km over a shallow lake. There we watched the orange sun rise slowly into the sky and had tea and donuts to start the day.

The rest of the day we visited different sights around Mandalay such as Mandalay Hill, a teak monastery, and different stone carving businesses. In the evening, I sat along the Irrawaddy river watching boys play in the water, women wash clothes and dishes, and the sun fall into the horizon. Watching the sunrise and sunset during my last day seemed a fitting end to my stay in Myanmar, recalling the sunrises and sunsets I viewed in Yangon, the train to Bagan, Bagan, and the Chin state.

The next day my time in Myanmar came to a close and I made my short flight back to BKK. Upon arriving to the enormous city, I instantly realized the stark difference between the highly developed Thailand and the still up and coming Myanmar. I enjoyed relaxing for a few days in Bangkok, visiting with friends met during my previous stay here in November/December, working with fast wifi, and preparing for the next phase of my trip. One thing I also thoroughly enjoyed was walking down the street and not being stared at by everyone as was the case in Myanmar.

After a few days in Bangkok, I boarded the overnight train to Nongkhai and my eventual destination of my next country, Lao.