Early the next morning, we breakfasted and hopped in the car for a 2 hour drive to the border crossing with Laos.
The border crossing consisted of putting our luggage into a small boat and motoring across the river to Laos, where our guide was waiting for us. He helped us get our visas and then we piled into a tuk-tuk, (a tiny open-air taxi), to head down to our boat.
We stopped on the way to get supplies - a pomelo, some seaweed flavored Pringles, and some other snacks - and then got into this enormous river boat that could have seated 40 people, but was reserved just for us.
We spent the rest of the day blithely riding down the calm waters of the Mekong river. The scenery was gorgeous and along the way we saw people doing laundry, panning for gold, and building boats.
We stopped at a couple of villages as well and saw how people live, complete with demonstrations of blacksmithing, rice processing, and kids playing a game that was a cross between soccer and volleyball.
We also learned how people plant crops like corn and sweet potatoes in the banks of the river during the dry season. I guess the silt from the river provides nutrients, but it was weird seeing crops grow in the sand. It was a wonderful relaxing day and we arrived in the village of Pak Beng around sunset.
We got settled into our hotel, noted the rules, which included a prohibition against 'making noisy'-
- and set out to find a place to exchange some money (no ATM's). We really had to look around because our guide told us that the bank rate was around 8,000 kip to the dollar, but our hotel wanted to give us 7,000. In the end we found a lady who exchanged for 7,750 and then found a nice little place for a candle light dinner of water buffalo stew and mango milkshakes.
The next morning, our guide took us by the morning market to pick up some food. We passed over the roasted moles, water buffalo skin, and ears-
- and picked up some sticky rice, pickled fish, dragon fruit, and sweet potato treats before checking out and getting back in the boat.
Morning on the Mekong is a foggy affair, but no less beautiful. We really enjoyed watching the fog lift and the clouds break up throughout the morning.
We even had a few unexpected surprises. At one point, our boat driver pulled over to some rocks to buy a deer leg that some villagers were selling by the river.
Then, as we were eating our smorgasbord from the morning market-
- a dead pig floated by us on the river.
Aside from that, we just enjoyed the views and the occasional herd of water buffaloes on the shore.
We pretty much just rode along until the afternoon, when we stopped at the Pak Ou Buddha caves, which has been filled with thousands of Buddha statues over the centuries.
Our last stop-off before reaching our destination was a village where they make rice wine and rice whiskey.
You can even buy bottles with snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and/or geckos in them. We settled for a small sample of the wine and the whiskey and then toured the village a bit before returning to the boat.
We arrived in Luang Prabang around sunset and got all settled in before heading out for the night market. The goods for sale were not terribly interesting but we did discover a street buffet down one of the alleys.
It was a tiny little street lined with food stalls on one side and tables on the other. There was even a stray cat that would sit next to people on the benches in hopes of scraps. We found fresh spring rolls and plenty of sticky rice in addition to delicious grilled meats, although one of the skewers that we were told was chicken turned out to just be chicken skin. Still, we ate like kings.
In the morning, we had our first cup of Lao coffee, which was the best I've ever had - no exaggeration. After breakfast, our guide picked us up and took us to the former palace, (the King was overthrown in the 70s), which was beautifully decorated but where pictures were prohibited inside, unfortunately.
From there, we took a trip out of town, through young rice paddies-
- to the Khouangsi Waterfall. We were impressed when we saw all of the turquoise pools spilling into each other-
- but we thought that was all there was to see until we got to the main waterfall, which pours off a huge cliff.
Even more exciting, we got the chance to hike up to the top. On our way up, we passed some people coming down who told us that the other side was much more hiker-friendly and that we could cross the waterfall at the top.
We didn't realize until we got up there that crossing meant wading. So it was off with our shoes and through the water. It was actually the perfect thing because the water cooled us off after our climb and we got some impressive views from the top of the waterfall.
It was only after we got back to Dushanbe that someone who had been there before asked us about the leeches, but luckily, we didn't have a problem with them. That said, I did worry for a moment that Stephanie was going to go Tarzan on me and take off through the jungle on the swinging vines.
As an added bonus, we got to see some rescued Asian bears on our way out. The bears are hunted for their bile, which is used in folk remedies despite the fact that it is toxic to humans.
Once we got back to Luang Prabang, we found a little restaurant on a platform above the river and really enjoyed ourselves.
The afternoon was spent visiting a couple of temples, one of which had beautiful gold engravings covering the entire front wall.
This temple was particularly interesting because we could also see where the monks lived. It was strange to see their laundry hanging out on the porch.
After our last temple, we hiked up the big hill in the middle of town to the temple at the top to take in the views and watch a beautiful sunset over the mountains and river.
We ventured to the night market again that evening for the street buffet. Wandering around, I was reminded how small people are in Laos every time I bumped my head on the tents - which was a lot. It was a very 'Gulliver' feeling.
In the morning, we flew to Pakse in southern Laos to see some of the natural beauty there. Our first trip was to see the waterfalls at Khone Phapeng, the largest in Southeast Asia, where the entire Mekong spills over a 50 foot drop.
From there, we drove to the Island of Don Khone and got in a tiny, rocky boat and motored into the area known as 4,000 islands to look for the rare Irawaddy Dolphin.
We did get to see a number of them surface at a distance, but I only got one picture because of the disaster.
I was changing the battery in my camera when it slipped out of my hand and fell into the bottom of the boat. Twice. The bottom of the boat had a shallow pool of muddy water and it disagreed with my camera.
After I dried it off, I discovered that the functional buttons as well as the zoom and auto lighting features were no longer functioning. Needless to say I was devastated. Back in the car, we asked the guide if there were any stores in Pakse that might sell cameras. We couldn't very well finish out our trip with any pictures. As we came into town, Stephanie suggested that I check my camera one more time and, viola, it worked again, fully functional. What a relief.
We got checked into our hotel in Pakse and then set out to find a restaurant - which was harder than it sounds. After walking for a good half hour, we ended up at a restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. How ironic. We ordered some food, but it was a very long wait. Several other couples got up and left because the service was so slow. But we, knowing how few options there were, waited it out and were well rewarded. The fried river fish that I ordered was phenomenal.
Back at the hotel, we were faced with another challenge. The cleaning staff had left the window open and the room was filled with mosquitos. Everytime we though we got the last one, another one appeared. And I swear one of them was immortal. I must have smashed it 10 times before it finally lay still. And in the morning, I think it was alive again.
You can see all the pictures here:
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| SoutheastAsia 2011 JPGS |
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