Do's but especially don'ts

The Nam Ou river was getting the first reflections of the sun over its waters, the fog was dissappearing while letting our senses prepare for one of the nicest experiences of our trip, a slow boat journey back to the Mekong and to our next stop Luang Prabang.

During the seven hours of the trip we were constantly astonished by the spectacular scenery. Through the emerald green waters and the huge limestone mountains, we were able to see local kids completly naked playing in the water while waving and smiling to us, fisherman working hard, women doing their laundry or just showering, homemade watermills for electricity, ...

The water buffalos and cows enriched the view together with the amazing contrast of the different shades of green from the surrounding mountains and vegetation. It was an extraordinary experience, not only because of the view but because of the circumstances.

The water level was not always high enough, so on two ocassions we had to step off the boat, the first time we had to take a tuk tuk to bring us further down river were the level was normal, and later on we also had to walk for some meters until the level was navigable again. Needless to say that the two stops were also good for our bums because sitting on a wooden chair for so long made our hams fall asleep.

At the end of the afternoon we reached the Mekong and arrived to Luang Prabang, we took our backpacks and climbed the steep stairs up the pier, said goodbye to the kiwi family and started our walk into town, while looking for a descent and cheap guesthouse.

This Unesco World Heritage city is very different from the Laos we have seen so far, houses with french facades fill the main street, while a nice bohemian athmosphere surrounds it, here backpackers and upper scale tourist come together to enjoy the temples, the night market, the food stalls or the cozy restaurants, where inflated prices is the language everyone talks.

Luang Prabang is located between two rivers and it's size allows us to discover it by foot. In short walking distance it is possible to see the many temples, the Royal Palace and to visit the famous Phu Si, located on a hill and surrounded by magnolia trees. From here it is possible to have a nice view from the city and when the clouds allow it, it is possible to enjoy a nice sunset, but sadly enough that was not our case.

The heat is so overwelming that at lunch time we have to stop because it is impossible to walk around under the intense sun, so either we go back to our guesthouse to have a little siesta or recover from the sweating by having an ice cream while standing rigth in front of a fan for more than an hour.

At nigth the main street is closed to traffic to give space to the hundreds of stands from the local vendors, selling all the same kind of scarfs, t-shirts, souvenirs, jewlery and clothes. Also the food stalls appear, and from them the most interesting was the yummy and cheap vegetarian buffet with local vegetables and rice.


We finished our day with a cold and refreshing Beer Lao, and then back to our room for a nice nigth sleep even on the hard rock bed.... zzzzzz but the peace didn't last long, the late arrival of four backpackers that were not only stinky but also very noisy, made our nigth become very tiring. Anyway we learned our lesson and the next nigth, before going to sleep, we used our ear plugs and were able to keep their noise in the distance.

In the morning it is always a pleasure to shop for food, thanks to the French rule, the breakfast in Lao always include warm and crunchy baguettes, filled with Vache qui rit (cream cheese), veggies or omelette, and thanks to the abundancy of tropical fruits the delicious shakes are the perfect combination for a flavourful and cheap meal.

But being a famous tourist attraction also has its downside: it inflates the prices amazingly and simple things like taking a boat to the other side of the river can be a frustrating experience. After negotiating with a fisherman we were able to cross the Mekong for 5.000 kip to visit a circuit of temples, from which we liked Wat Tham Xieng Maen the most, it was a deep and narrow cave in which many destroyed Buddha statues have found a last place to rest. The way back was again a struggle to get a boat, they wanted us to pay 30.000 kip this time, so we waited until a boat for local people was leaving letting us pay the normal price and not the falang one.


The giving of alms (monks collecting food early in the morning) has become such a tourist attraction, that even our noisy neigbours got up early for it. The tourist observance of this practice means that many travellers just see it as a spectacle, so they take close ups of the monks, get in their way, make noise and so on, so this whole experience ends up being an insult to this tradition that the Laotians value a lot.

The next day we were offered to be brougth to the Tat Kuang Si waterfalls, for half the prize, so we took the offer and left 32 kms south of the city. After a nice ride we arrived to this amazing place, where we discovered the most beautiful spot so far. Here we were able to see and enjoy the multi level turqoise blue and refreshingly cold waters. There are no words to describe the beauty of this place, so just enjoy one of the many pictures we took.


To finish our trip here we took a motorbike with a carriage next to it.... cool way of transportation. On it we arrived at the bus station and waited for the bus to Vang Vieng. During our long trip, 8 hours for 220 kilometers we are able to see again the real Lao.

There is no such thing as numbered seats in Laos but as the couple that said they had our seats insisted on them we moved a couple of rows backs. Then a whale of a young lady that found it appropiate to scream at the guy stacking the luggage and demanding him to take everything out and restack properly came to the row where we were sitting also demanding her seat.

Little did she know that we were on edge and that her remarks resulted in an avalanche of arguments from us that made her crawl under the rock she just wobbled out off and she quietly sat on an available seat at the back.
It's going to be a loooong ride we thought and we were right.

It took us 8 hours to ride the 220 km to Vang Vieng. It was an even longer ride for the local woman close to us that vomitted nearly all the way. Locals are not that use to go up and down a winding road.
The route 13 we were following had in the past been a dangerous road so one of the buspersonnel carried a loaded AK-47 which to us seemed more dangerous as this would imply a firefight but we planned to use the woman from earlier as a shield as we both would be protected by her figure. As you can tell we have no sympathy to people who show no respect for the beautiful peoples of Laos.

After being in heavenly Laos for some time has given us a better understanding of the Lao culture, it is wort to mention that they are forgiving, extremly friendly, laid back, and very supersticious people and even though they are Buddhist they are also animist and believe in spirits and ghost, this is the reason why they have small houses for the spirits and offer food and drinks to their ancestors as a sign of respect and rememberance.

Laotians are also a very conservative, where the appearance is very important and where locals always dress neatly, women cover their shoulders and legs, men never go shirtless, and the concept of beauty is not related to a cleavage or a small outfit. Actually the more covered the prettiest, and the whiter a person looks the nicest and distinguished they are.

This however is in big contrast to what we were about to encounter in Vang Vieng. Once a sleepy town, today the party paradise for drunken or stoned westerners, just another student street like in any other country where people run around without shirts, without caring or respecting the local culture, behaving in a way that they even wouldn't at home and abuse the language of Shakespeare who would die on the spot if he would hear their foul mouths. We thought that there was a grammatical limit for using the word "fucking" in a sentence but actually it can be used infinetly it seems.

If you want to see what NOT TO DO (click here) in Laos DO come to Vang Vieng and learn from the mistakes of others, and please do not repeat them, it just contributes to the bad image the Laotians have of us the travellers. As usual a couple of idiots ruines it for everyone.

It is a shame that such a beautiful place, located between limestones and cristal blue waters be converted by hunderds of irresponsible travellers into a party town and we fear that other places in Laos will fall into this trap.
The streets are filled with western food restaurants and video bars showing old episodes of Friends, or Family guy, which was amusing, but that absorb you from the beautiful surroundings (not the girls running arround in their bikinis but the nature). You can almost here the people fade away into oblivion as they stare as mindless drunk zombies at the screens.

But you will ask yourself why did we stop there if we knew it was like that? Well we wanted to break the long journey from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, we wanted to see the caves and the blue lagoon but also it was our destiny to sleep for two nigths in the most confortable bed...... so white, so puffy, so soft, that just sleeping there was a reason enough for being thankful.

After a nice and well deserved nigth sleep and a powerful breakfast we walked for 2 hours under the strong sun and over the dusty dirt road, where every tree that gave shade became our water stop.
After two hours we reached our destination: the Tham Phu Kham caves, and what was more amazing, the blue lagoon. After a refreshing plunge in the cold and clean water, we climbed the rocks and arrived at the cave, where a reclining Buddha welcomed the visitors. The more we walked into the cave the darker and the narrower it became, so much that at a certain point it was neccesary to bend over to continue, so Angela decided to wait outside while Jonny used his adventurous spirit to discover it and I was left alone as like Celine Dion will sing AAAAAALL BYYYYYY MYYYYYY SEEEEEEEELF!


Eventually Jonny came back from the center of the earth and we were not really looking forward to 2 hours walking back but as always there is a lifeline and that came in the form of a big pick up that was just about to leave. We asked if we could hop in the back and just 20 minutes later we were back in town. Free and fast, ALRIGHT!


On the next episode of the Vancirez' travels :
Cycling in the furnace of Vientiane, demining a garden, teaching some english to young punks, haggling to the death to visit a temple and petting a fluffy bunny rabbit.