May 6, 2013 - Luang Prabang

Ya, the simple side turned into a breakdown about bugs and resulted in me leaving the hotel for another, which was actually pretty nice. There has been some crazy rain storms around here at night. Fast and furious. The arrival to Laos and transfer to the slow boat was a little rough I won't lie. Three hours in the Visa line, paid to use the most horrifying bathroom I've ever seen in my life (if you could even call it that) The slow boat ride was again an experience to say the least. Kinda fun though, good scenery. Boarded with our new...

Feb 14, 2013 - Luang Parbang

Auckland to Laos- Sunday February 10., The Air Malaysia flight, Auckland to Kuala Lumpur left on time at 2.40pm. Pete had to pay $40 for the extra kilo in his bike box, it must have been the extra pair of shoes he put in. Our panniers seem lighter and smaller than for our Europe trip, as we are only packing for 5 weeks and one season. Temperatures should range between 20 to 40C. Dinner, a spicy chicken curry and rice for Nickie and a beef curry for Pete,( Asian cuisine already!) was enjoyed with a celebratory Tiger Beer. Pete dozed and...

Feb 8, 2013 - Royal Buddha image

Luang Prabang (meaning Royal Buddha image) is not a place, it is a frame of mind, a daily pattern formulated eons ago and still recreated today with the same precision. This mountain kingdom in today's northern Laos is no longer a French colony within Indochina and no longer boasts a royal family (the last king was sent off for 're-education' in 1975 and has not been seen since, but life goes on in much the same way regardless of these changes. The day starts before dawn, when temperatures are still well below the high nineties of midday...

Feb 5, 2013 - Some places never seem to change

They say travel broadens the mind but it is perhaps more accurate to say that travel caused one to question the great mysteries of life. Take as an example the sight of a local, clothed in a simple loincloth type of garment, sitting on a remote rock recently under water but now exposed by the falling river levels at this time of year, on the bank of the mighty Mekong river, swirling it was down from the high plains of Tibet to the distant river delta in southern Vietnam. There he sits, rod in his right hand, seemingly miles from the...

Jan 30, 2013 - Look mum, this is me at ....

See photo above for explanation: You don't need a lot of training to be a professional photographer here, it turns out right every time. No squinting, closed eyes, funny faces or not so you'd notice. And if it all goes wrong, just dress up a few friends and reshoot. No one will notice. And the pictures don't date over time so you look as young as ever. Clever stuff. N.B. that's Maggie, second from left of course. Well spotted.

Jan 19, 2013 - Return to Indochina

Outlook: bright and sunny. Well, this is assuming Heathrow manages to open before May to permit the odd flight to depart. As ages creeps up, we feel more and more that we should concentrate on the places that we know and love, rather than too much experimenting with new and untested spots like Eastern Algeria (Algiers was bad enough 30 years ago) or Guinee-Bisau. (Oh yes, still planning to hit Ukraine and Georgia - the country - later in the year). And so it came to pass that in 2013 we will be restricting our itinerary to three magical...

Jan 18, 2013 - Giving Alms to the Monks and Bicycling around Luang Prabang

We were up at 5 and off to the Main Street. We purchased food to give to the monks. I had a basket of sticky rice that I made into small balls and placed into different monk's metal bowls. I also passed out bananas and biscuits. I sat on a mat and made sure my feet did not point at a monk. While placing the food in their bowls I had to be really careful not to touch them since I am a woman. The monks walked in single file, with bare feet and wore bright orange robes. Along the street, a temple boy held a big plastic bag where the monks...

Jan 17, 2013 - Luang Prabang & the Kuang Sii Waterfalls

Our room is gorgeous with lots of teak wood and high vaulted ceiling and wooden shuttered windows. We visited the museum of ethnology. We found the wedding traditions fascinating. At a construction site next to the museum, both men and women were working. We took a private bus to the Kuang Sii waterfalls. At the beginning of the path to the falls, we passed a black bear sanctuary. We trekked around the falls, passing many pools at different levels that people could swim in. The water was cold since it is their winter. We hiked up to the...

Jan 17, 2013 - Last day in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang January 17, 2013 Thursday Day 8 of G Well I didn't sleep very well last night even though this is the best bed so far. I have so many bug bites that I am itching like the mangy dogs we see on the streets. Enough to even get blood on my shirt. I am using anti-itch stuff topically but last night was so bad I actually took 2.5 mg of pred that I borrowed from Chiclet. Thanks Chic.  So since I was up anyway I slatherd myself with more bug repellent, dressed in my anti-bug clothing and left the hotel by myself at 5:30, in the...

Jan 16, 2013 - Pak Ou Caves & Luang Prabang

We stopped to explore the very spiritually important site, the Pak Ou Caves. These caves are home to thousands of Budda statues and images. They are placed by the Lao people. We toured the main cave and then climbed lots of steps to get to the upper cave. We all went out together for dinner. Some went to the night market where a street is shut down and hundred of stalls are set up just for the night.

Jan 16, 2013 - Luang Prabang day 2

Luang Prabang January 16, 2013 Wednesday Day 7 of G We got to sleep in today. We didn't have to meet the group until 8:45. So we got to sleep late, have breakfast (which I will skip tomorroweven though it's included) and drop off our laundry before group activities. Not that breakfast was bad. It just wasn't that good and there are so many exciting street food stalls just waiting to be sampled. And everything is so damn cheap. Laundry in the hotel is charged per item. Remarkably cheap by our normal standards but around the corner it is even...

Jan 15, 2013 - Mekong River to Luang Prabang

Mekong River to Luang Prabang January 15, 2013, Tuesday Day 6 of G I set my alarm last night the same as I did the night before but sometime during the night my phone reset to the current local time so it didn't go off. Not to worry, the retching, hacking and coughing from other rooms and hearing everyone else moving around got me up in time. I think Jeff would have slept through it. I had the alarm set for 5:30 but we got up at 6. We only had 1/2 hour to wash up, pack and get to breakfast. Great view out the window in the morning light of...