Sabaidee Laos

After our bus journey from hell and the chaos of Hanoi we really enjoyed our 3 days in a relaxing, chilled out Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It is probably the most laid back, quiet and friendly capital we have ever been to. A testament to this is that in our first day we picked up the words for thank you (Khawp jai) and hello (Sabaidee), however during our 3 weeks in Vietnam we failed to pick these up.

It was nice to be in a place with no honking horns, crazy scooters or hassling tuk tuk drivers. This was another great opportunity to rent bicycles and explore the city. There aren't a huge amount of places of interest but we visited a few Wats (bit sick of all the temples to be honest, they are all quite similar), went to the Patuxai (a replica of the Arc de Triomph) and rode along the river front looking at Thailand across the Mekong.

What you can't see is Leanne's very fetching leg covering sarong she had to wear!

A view of Vientiane from the top of the Patuaxi

Leanne on her bike

We also went to a big market, Talat Sao which was next to a shopping mall that was basically an extension of the market. We got our first taste of some Lao cuisine here in the large food court, it definitely wasn't our last.

From Vientiane we got the bus to Vang Vieng, famous for tubing. As a result the town is a lot more touristy and has a lot of westerners, the most English people we have seen so far on our trip, there were enough Essex people for Leanne to think she was back home. As well as tubing, there is some amazing scenery around the town.

We hired mountain bikes on our first day and rode along and through the limestone mountains to a blue lagoon and cave. It took around an hour to get there and was a more off road bike ride than our previous ones but it was good fun and worth it for the scenery.

Action shot

Taking a dip in the lagoon was very refreshing after our bike ride in the sun. As you can see from the photo there were a few swings to sit on it the water. It did get a little cold after a while though, maybe you can tell from Leanne's expression.

The next day we went tubing but unfortunately it was cloudy and we were pretty cold, also this meant it wasn't that busy which is a bit of a shame. We still had a good time though, we didn't drink that much but went off a lot of the swings, zip lines and Tarzan ropes (or a Tarza as I would say). Leanne was too scared to try one, I don't understand how she can climb up that huge rickety tower but won't jump in the water from a few feet.

It's Leanne here, from Vang Vieng we took a bus to the town of Luang Prabang. It was one of the bumpiest journeys ever (Rob says still nothing compared to Bulgaria), but our route wound around the mountainous landscape and was beautiful.

Like the capital it was very laid back, we spent our first afternoon sitting by the river sipping some refreshing juices. The next day we decided to wonder alone for 2 hours. We both had to find a place or something of note to show each other. It was nice to walk around exploring alone for a change.

Rob took me here...

... and I took him here

Not bad for a morning's work! On this evening we had one of the nicest Lao meals so far. A little restaurant called Tamarind whose main aim was to give a taste of traditional dishes. We had a trio of sticky rice, chilli paste and Mekong seaweed and some lettuce wraps filled with noodles, baby aubergines and different pastes. And the best of all some seared buffalo with chilli and garlic. It was delicious, its making my mouth water just thinking about it again!

The next day we went to Khoung Si waterfall with a British couple who we have bumped into a few times since getting that awful bus with them from Hanoi. This was the best waterfall we have been to and had some crystal clear cascading pools further down for a dip.

The main waterfall ( Rob is one of the white dots at the bottom)

Cascading pools

Tarzan

On the previous attempt Rob forgot to let go and hit the tree (gasps were heard from the audience) Smooth!

When we got back from the waterfall we walked the 328 steps to Wat Si to watch the sunset over Luang Prabang.

Luang Prabang has a more religious vibe and every morning just after sunrise the town gives alms offerings to the hundreds of monks that live there. On our last morning in Laos we woke up early to see this, it was a great experience however we were careful not to get in the way of this tradition, unfortunately some other tourists didn't show the same respect.

We were sad to leave Laos and perhaps the biggest regret so far is that we didn't spend enough time there.

That's all folks...