A taste of Malaysia

Mekong it up as we go along.

We decided to move on from the north of Vietnam to northern Laos.  One of the phenomena of backpacking is the willingness of almost all travellers to share their experiences.  Each and every traveller agreed that Luang Prabang in Laos was the place to start.

We had a difficult choice to make.  We could suffer a 30 hour trip on a bus through dangerous mountain passes, uncertain border crossings, washed out roads and questionable roadside food at a fraction of the cost of air fare or spend an extra $200. US on the 1 hour flight. We took the flight..

Luang Prabang proudly perches at the confluence of the mighty Mekong and the Khan rivers. A  world heritage site it combines world class comfort,  a sleepy pace and 33 temples and blends them effortlessly into a most pleasurable pulse slowing experience.

Faded French architecture, ancient Indochinese temples, processions of saffron clad monks, traditional religious rituals, an active culinary scene all work together to make Luang Prabang a must see gem of the orient.

Dianne's maiden name is Blue.  Likely a family connection?

Led Zeppelin would understand

OMG I'm still only half way???

Finally the summit and the view of Ulang Prabang 

Aussie friend Bryan went through the rotten board.  Almost lost him.

Rickety bamboo bridge over the Khan

Lao soup for lunch. 

Dianne's favorite photographic subject.  I see your back.

We explored the night market, wandered by foot along the rivers, crossed the Khan on seasonal bamboo bridges and climbed the mountain in the very center of the city to the ancient temple on its summit. 

First time seeing pink eggs.  They are not dyed but come from special

chickens would love to bring some fertilized eggs back with us.

We hired a minibus to take us to a place called whiskey village to sample their wares.  There is a tradition of inserting various repulsive critters into the whiskey to make for potent healing brews.

Our neighbours wanted some Tequila with the worm in it.

Wonder what they'd think of this. 

Bought a shirt that took the woman two days to weave.

 From there we went to an elephant park and crossed the Mekong to explore the Buddha cave and finally the magnificent Yangzi waterfalls.  The cataract is impossible to photograph as it descends in terraces down the mountain but trust me when I say it was the closest to the otherworldly as we have experienced on our trip.  And after a hot, hot day of climbing up the mountain, swimming in it's cool green pools was little short of rapturous.

Water buffalo cooling off in the Mekong

The water falls were magical.

After a week in Luang Prabang we opted to take the two day slow boat up the Mekong river to what was once called the Golden Triangle where Laos, Thailand and Burma meet.  This area used to produce most of the worlds opium and rumour has it the CIA operated a heroin production plant in the area. It is still an untamed, undeveloped region and a feeling of living on the edge of the civilized world permeates the surrounding hills.

We played the game of thrones.  Very exciting.

 

We had to disembark by walking a 2x6 plank to the mud shore.

All while carrying our back packs and laughing hysterically.

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More stairs to another temple.  What's bizarre is 

no staircase in Laos is even.  One step is 6 inches high the next 

eight.  One is a foot wide the next half that.

Noticed an old, abandoned French fort from the top

of the temple and had to explore it.

Where's Waldo?

Rickety rotten staircase but once at the top the 

view was spectacular.

The daily procession of monks seeking alms and paying with prayers

Sunset while dining on the Mekong

Finally we moved down to Vientiane, the capital, to finish off our Lao adventure.  This city has truly little to recommend it.  There is an oriental version of the Arc de Triumph, of course the usual compliment of temples, in the evening there is a tired night market along the Mekong river walk but there are also some good restaurants, friendly people and overall a refreshingly positive attitude.

Our favourite restaurant in Vientiane was a Lebanese 

place owned by a guy from Montreal

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Believe it or not the Chinese Lao friendship center

From here the journey takes us down to Bangkok Thailand for a week's sojourn then off by bus to Cambodia where we will visit Siem Reap and the temples of Angor Wat.  We rented a small bungalow on the beach near Sinahoukville , it comes with a pool, riverside terrace and is less then a minute away from Otres beach and the ocean.  We've rented that for a month where we plan to rest up from our travails.