1st March 2011 - Luang Prabang, Laos PDR
The twelve hour bus journey to Luang Prabang was tortuous and interminably uncomfortable. The twists and turns of the road, bumps and ruts in the road, made any attempt to sleep short-lived and utterly frustrating. I soon came to realise that the load Lao pop-music was keeping the driver awake, and the passengers alive, and it became acceptabler, if not entirely soothing. At least I had a reasonably-comfortable reclining seat. The Lao man next to me was seated in a plastic garden chair in the aisle, between 50kg sacks of Thai rice. He slept fairly well nonetheless. The Europeans and Americans seemed jealous of the South East Asian passengers who are able to sleep in the most contorted positions at the drop of a hat. A guy at dinner last night, who lives in Mae Sot, explained that the expectation that people should be quiet when others are sleeping doesn't apply here. Consequently everybody learns to sleep comfortably despite noise all around them.
I was broken and exhausted when I arrived in Luang Prabang, but after a few hours sleep, I awoke in the heat of the afternoon. Hiring a jumbo for the 32km trip top the Kuang Si Waterfalls was an excellent decision. It is the quintessential inland tropical paradise, and the beauty of the falls, and the cool invitation of the turquoise waters were more refreshing than sleep.
Today the waters beckoned again, and after a lunch of Mekong fish and sticky rice came an afternoon of swimming, diving, and rope-swing bawbaggery. Stopping at Wat Xiang Thon on the way home to listen to the monks sing, I was disappointed with the disrespectful behaviour of many of the other tourists, and I left and watched the sun set over the Mekong. For dinner there was more river fish in a yellow curry sauce. The colonial history of the region was perceptible in the heavy, delicious butter blended into the sauce. To accompany it there was deep-fried river weed encrusted with sesame seeds, and a Thai-style dish made wioth local freshwater shrimps, small and delicate. Despite the temptation to sample 'True Manhood' Lao whiskey, the only beverage worth drinking here is the excellent Beer Lao.
3rd March 2011 - Viang Vieng, Laos PDR
The last couple of days have been something of an ordeal. The horrendous journey from Luang Prabang left everybody in a foul temper, and I contracted food poisoning from an over-priced chiekcn baguette I bought on the way. I was hallucinating and ready to collapse by the time we arrived, but today I'm beginning to recover. Viang Vieng is surrounded by towering limestone karst which are honeycombed with caves and subterranean rivers and pools. A short ride from the bungalows is Tam Khanlakhan Cave. Near the entrance is a seated Buddha, and inside a narrow warren of passages and caverns carved from the rock, and encrusted with rippling limestone formations. Tree roots have forced their way through the rocks, and the sweeping light of a torch occasionally picks out the bright green pinpoints of enormous arachnid eyes, pale insects, and swooping, chattering bats.
Viang Vieng itself is a strange town. On one side of the river are hotels and guesthouses, bars showing American T.V. shows, and restaurants serving American-style food and imported Australian beef. Across the bamboo bridge, or over a small steel suspension bridge, is another world entirely. The wooden bungalows are quietl, and arranged around beautiful gardens. Dogs sleep in the sun while chickens scratch for food. There isn't really a road to speak of, and the only way to go is slow, slow, slow. Tranquil and idyllic as it is, the country's punishing past is present at the suspension bridge. The steel bollards are topped with the sinister fins of unexploded U.S. bombs, dropped relentlessly on Laos between 1961 and 1975.
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