18-30/07/2007 Laos
What they say about Laos is true: it is an extremely laid-back country, the ideal place to relax.
Si Phan Dhong
After Tadlo, we headed South, to Si Phan Dhong, or better known as the Four Thousand Islands. This is where the Mekong gets really large and is sprinkled with loads of small islands. Our intention was to go to the biggest one (Don Khong), but because of a mix-up of names, we were dropped off at Don Khone. At first we got angry, thinking that we had been set up. Until we realized that 1) the mix-up was our own fault and 2) that we had been lucky, because according to other travellers, Don Khone has much more charm than the bigger Don Khong. We spent three days in this paradise of wooden bungalows, hammocks, tropical vegetation & climate, good food, few tourists and… 4 hours of electricity a day (from 18-22h).
During our stay, we rented bikes to drive around the rice fields and to visit Don Det, the more touristy neighbour island, linked to Don Khone by a bridge. None of the streets are asphalted there, so – taking into account the daily rains – it was quite a hobbly and muddy adventure.
We also saw a spectacular waterfall…
… and even spent a few hours sunbathing on the “beach” and bathing in the Mekong!
The only thing that spoiled it a bit for me were the insects. They were EVERYWHERE: in the bathroom, the bed, the floor, on the table, under the table, in our dishes,… and there’s nothing you can do to avoid them. I swear I tried my best to accept the little buggers (all creatures big or small have their function on this planet, Sandra, stay “zen”, this is only an ant creeping up your thy), but the worst thing was that THEY ONLY BITE ME!! (Niks van “gedeelde smart”!) So, in the end I was getting itchy (in both senses) and, in spite of all the beauty and authenticity of the island, I was secretly glad to leave…
Luang Prabang
What followed was a boat trip to Ban Nakasang, minivan to Pakse (where we spent the afternoon taking pictures)...
...then night bus to Vientiane and day bus to Luang Prabang. We met two Spanish guys on the way and ended up together in a marvellous (and very cheap!) guesthouse. I think the prices go up in the high season, but now we only pay 4USD a night for a clean and beautiful room. On top of that, we get free bananas and free tea! The bathrooms are shared, but that’s a minor thing, cause they are neat and there’s always one free.
Until now, we have made an excursion by boat to the Pak Ou temple caves and the whiskey village, where they make the Lao Lao rice whiskey, with scorpions and snakes inside the bottles (yeeeeek!). Below a picture of the "factory"...
we went for a swim in the Kuang Si waterfalls, the ideal setting for a Blue Lagoon-type film,
we have made lazy walks visiting the town and its temples,
Lluis has been organizing his photos and I’ve been reading, we have rented bikes to visit a neighbour village where they weave silk, you know, stuff like that, all veeeeery relaxed.
We have also used this week to recalculate our budget and have decided to skip China, which has become too expensive and to spend two weeks on a beach in Vietnam and/or Cambodia, living as low-cost as possible. Coming back 3 weeks earlier was another possibility, but the cost of changing our flight, is almost as much as a 3-week budget.
We have also taken advantage of the time here to look around for business opportunities. There are loads of nice cotton handicraft here on the markets and we are playing with the idea to import to Spain. Therefore, we need to find out about wholesale prices, shipping costs, and need to find a trustworthy contact person. We’ll see, nothing for sure yet.
Once we have more information on our 'business plan", we will continue to Vietnam... In the meantime, a big kiss from the woman in front and the man behind the camera!
