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| Lush paddy fields |
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| Paddy field |
The next morning we were all ready to set off on our bikes, and a gentle pace was set by our guides as we cycled aroung villages, and past paddy fields, chickens and water buffalo. The guides showed us village life in Laos, and we got to see how silk is made, right from the beginning when they boil the silk worms, which is when I ate one of the silk worms. Yum. Then after cycling a few more sedate Kilometers we stopped for the 'ice cream man' who was a man on a motorbike with a polystyrene box on the back and we had a lucky dip to see what flavour we'd get. I got green pea, which sounded gross but was actually delicious and I've been trying to find it again soon but to no avail, the nearest I got was mung bean ice cream.
After our lolly refreshment, the guides picked up the pace and we had a gruelling trek to our lunch stop, the paths were terrible and we had to negotiate rocky roads and delapidated bridges to get there. On arrival, some where close to tears and we were all in bits. Luckily lunch was being prepared for us and our location meant we could cool down in the waterfall. Lunch was freshly cooked fish and rice with vegetables served on the floor upon banana leaves. After a dip
in the waterfall, some of the group decided to get the tuk tuk back as they coudn't face getting on the bikes again, whilst I and the others finished the last gruelling few kilometres before heading for a well deserved beer!
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| Mandy beside a traditional hut at the village we visited on our bike ride |
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| Small boy at work with a sharp knife preparing cardomon pods |
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| Our delicious lunch |
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| Cooling off during the bike ride |
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| Frogs speared through the leg ready to be sold at the market |
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| Hooves of some description at the market - everything gets eaten here |
Our second destination in Laos, Non Khiaw, consisted of traditional huts, very basic, overlooking the river. We had a family living right underneath us and had the obligiatory cockroaches and giant spiders sharing our living space. It was here that we walked to some caves, fistly having to wade through a fast flowing river to reach them.
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| Jenn in our hut |
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| Spider in our bathroom! |
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| View of our huts overlooking the river |
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| Cave carving |
Leaving Non khiaw, we left the truck behind and set of on long boats along the river which was to take us onto the Mekong River and to Luang Prabang. Jim and Cj drove Calypso to Luang Prabang, arriving not long before us. The boat took about 3 hours to get us into Luang Prabang, and we stopped off for more cave action along the way.
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| long boat |
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| the only way to travel around here... |
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| Susan, Emily, Mandy, Aoife and Zoe on the long boat |
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| Random pink buddha in the caves we visited |
Luang prabang had a cool vibe and after visiting stupas and the like, a spot of shopping was done by most at the fab night market. It was also the place where we celebrated Zoe and Susan's engagement, in a bar overlooking the Mekong River. It was a great night with lots of fun with the whole group attending.
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| Congratulations Susan and Zoe! |
An early morning outing for some was to get up early to see the monks getting alms. We woke up at 5am to be in town early to see the serene monks. By 6am it was all over and back to the hotel to pack as we were leaving for Vang Vienge at 7am.
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| Monks in Luang Prabang |
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| Monks collecting their food for the day |
We rested on the truck to Vang Vienge, as after such an early start we needed to get our energy levels up ready for the afternoons activity - Tubing!! We had been getting excited about this for weeks and as soon as we arrived we dumped our bags, got changed and headed to get our 'tube', and the tuk tuk took us to the start of river experience. A boat took us with our tubes over the other side
of the brown muddy river, and we all set off, sitting in our tubes heading down the river towards the first bar. People throw ropes so you can pull yourself onto the edge of the river, and an afternoon of drinking, mud pools, slides and river tubing ensued, and we all had a fun day, many with war wounds to boot.
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| Susan tubing down the river |
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| Me tubing |
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| Aoife me and Denis enjoying the mud pool |
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| The tubing gang |
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| Aoife with the tubing grandads, Denis and Colin |
It was in Vientiane that we left the truck as it couldn't be brought into Vietnam or Cambodia, so we would be using public transport until we met up with Calypso again in Thailand.
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| View from the top of the Stupa |
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| Clair, Aoife, Emily and Ben at the top of the Stupa |
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| A serene monk |
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| Buddhas at the stupa |
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| Aoife and her long lost twin |
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| Arc De Triumph - Vientiene |
Exiting Laos was not quite as pleasant as the entrance was, we had to endure a night bus to Vinh in Vietnam. The lights went out at 7pm for people to sleep, then we arrived at the border in Vietnam at 1pm, but the border didn't open until 6am so we had to sleep on the bus with no air conditioning and seats like we were in coffins. Some managed to sleep but most had an extremely restless
night, likening it to a torture chamber!
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| Steve at the beginning of the night on the overnight bus to Vietnam |
So we said goodbye to lovely laid back Laos and wondered what Vietnam would hold for us......
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