Riverside Hotel, Vientiane, 28th February to 7th March 2010

Saw this place on Travelfish and in my Lonely-Planet so checked it out after trying a few other cheaper places, however with so many arrivals in town when I got here, they were full. The Riverside however was not, probably due to it being a touch on the expensive side:

180000 Kip per night for an aircon double or single room en-suite;
100000 Kip per night for a fan double or single room with en-suite.

The rooms themselves aren’t very big, but the beds are amazingly comfy which was good news for my back as so far on this trip the beds have not been that great. They have cable television with BBC World News, so I could get my Auntie Fix!

As far as location goes, its a stones throw from the frontage along the Mekong – however the promenade area is undergoing a massive regeneration/construction project, so do not expect to see much – and close to the rest of the main traveller amenities – bars, restaurants and the like.

They offer some travel services, in addition to free wifi in the lobby and a car service should you require it.

Biggest downside for the majority of travellers is the cost, however in Vientiane elevated costs seems to the norm, so its not a reason to be put off staying here.

The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul…

It’s not quite 4pm yet, but I have firmly entered what Douglas Adam’s coined “The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul”. The part of a Sunday afternoon when:

that terrible listlessness which starts to set in at about 2.55, when you know that you’ve had all the baths you can usefully have that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the papers you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o’clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul.

Being stuck in Vientiane – possibly the most laid back capital on the planet – on a Sunday with nothing to do as there is nothing open has brought me closer to the “long dark…” than I have ever experienced before, and I have had some awful Sundays.

Seriously kill me now.

No T-shirt for me…

Vang Vieng. Love it or hate it, its one of THE stops for nearly everyone who travels through Laos. The majority who do stop here come for the tubing – floating down the local river on giant inner-tubes stopping at bars along the way to drink beer, mushroom shakes and smoke some pot; a minority of others come for the stunning scenery and a plethora of caving opportunities.

Personally, having been to the place before, and done my fair share of tubing, this time around Id already made a decision to NOT tube, and to not just treat it as another place to get messed up. I wanted to avoid becoming part of what for me has ruined Vang Vieng. And since I am not a fan of long bus rides, a stay here is a necessity to break up the Luang Prabang to Vientiane journey.

So instead I explored around the town – and how it has changed over the years, from a small village of bamboo huts to a bustling town with never-ending construction, bars and reruns of Family Guy & Friends – the cave systems in the area are really wonderful, many sited near/under the karst formations that are such a grand backdrop to the awful sight of wasted westerners floating down the river. Even getting out of town across the river is a relief at times, walk away from the river and you start to see the older Laos still struggling on, only a stones throw away from the debauchery that has over run this once quiet corner of a quieter country, don’t get me wrong, Laos deserves to grow as all countries do, but is this really the best way?

The worst thing about my visit is that somehow I erased all the images I had taken while there, and did not notice until I was long gone from Vang Vieng, making all my efforts to avoid the uglier side of the place, moot. At least I now backup my images everyday.

So did I get a T-shirt, No. I found my fun in other places in town and yes I still mingled with the other travellers around, but I did not focus solely on getting trashed while in town, and since I did not tube, why would I have wanted a t-shirt that says “Tubing In The Vang Vieng Laos” to wear for the rest of my days in Laos. Shame they don’t do ones especially for the bitter and jaded like me.

Ban Sabai Riverside Bungalows, Vang Vieng, 25th February to 28th February 2010

Got into VV very late – too late to originally stay here on my booking. However after spending the night in a cheap flop-house of a place, I popped down to see if they would be able to honour the aforementioned booking. Lo and behold the reception staff said they could. They gave me a gorgeous bungalow overlooking a well stocked fish pond on the grounds, yes it cost $32 a night, but I wanted to relax and pamper myself somewhat, given that I would be spending some time in a place I have come to loathe.

The room was very large with a king size double bed, aircon, hot water showers and a veranda right over the pond, facing towards the restaurant and the river.

For a bit of a splurge the place is very much worth it and the attached restaurant is such a change from the rest of the riverside places in VV, it has a wonderful “piazza” feel to it and does some amazing food, from Laos staples right though to good Provençal and even some Malaysian dishes.

Check their website for more information.

What?! More Wats!

Call me lazy, call me unadventurous, but after I leaving Pai and stopping briefly in Chiang Mai, I made the decision to fly to Luang Prabang in Laos, skipping the slow boat that travellers normally take. This was because the stories and rumours flying around about that route & method had the boat not functioning the way it always had due to the low condition of the Mekong. Looking back this was the right choice as the boat is currently out of action thanks to the Mekong being very low for reasons unknown to me.

I got a pretty cheap flight with Lao Airlines and after a very short flight I got off the plane – which by the way has propellers – and was in the second country on this excursion of mine.

Luang Prabang itself is a pretty compact place, as I have said previously and as also mentioned it is a UNESCO world heritage site, in part due to its history as a former royal capital and also because of how well preserved the town is, despite the chaos in Laos history – recent and further back.

Its a great introduction to Laos, as its a very laid back place with a lot of sights both near and far and a stunning selection of places to eat, from every day street stalls doing simple Laos dishes such as Laap right through to some gems like Utopia, with its menu of both Laos and western food that really belies the setting.

Just make sure you are healthier than me (easy I know) if you want to see the worthwhile views from the top of Phu Si, the temple mountain in the centre of the old town.

Rattana Guesthouse, Luang Prabang, 21st February to 24th February

Having made the decision to fly into Luang Prabang, I needed to find a place that would pick me up from the airport, as its a slight way out of town.

After much browsing of Travelfish and Google, I happened upon Rattana’s and fired off an email. A few hours later my reservation was confirmed. A day later I was met at the airport and taken to the guesthouse.

Rattana’s itself is close to the boat landing for the slow boats, as well as close to Phou Si, the Hmong Market and pretty much the rest of Luang Prabang. The rooms are pretty spacious overall, and very well maintained. And at $15 a night you cannot ask for more.

Rattana’s also offers trekking and other tour services ould they interest you, as well as being able to arrange onward bus tickets to anywhere in Laos.

Overall as a slightly more costly place than most of the budget range in town, Id say Rattana’s does what it does very well and I have no complaints about the place.

We stepped off the boat and into the Jungle.

(Trek was undertaken over the 12th and 13th February 2010 basing from Pai, Thailand)

After a few days in Pai, Anna, Luke, Mat & myself decided it was time to do something energetic and we made arrangements to do a jungle trek. We used Back Trax on the main road in Pai, mainly because they are recommended in “the book” (Lonely Planet Thailand), which is usually something I avoid following as once a “service” is in the book, the reason for it being there tends to vanish rather quickly.

However this recommendation proved to be brilliant. We spoke to a guide named Cha, who basically offered us what we wanted: Trekking with no elephants and no hill tribes, just roaming through jungle and over/around mountains, staying overnight under the stars.

Cut to a day or so later and we arrived – after a start that was early even by my standards – at our starting point. For me it went well at first, however the heat and being fabulously unhealthy soon caught up with me, and I had to slow it down a lot. This did give me more of a chance to appreciate our location, which while not deep jungle was still ensuring it let us know our place.

After a good few hours – and a slight fall that pulled all the muscles in my ever messed up right foot – we made camp, well everyone else swam while the guides built it and I got some well earned shut-eye (neatly avoiding any effort). The guides: Cha & Sap, really out did themselves on the preparation for the overnight stay, they built a “sala”, which is like an open-sided sleeping area, made a huge number of utensils and cooking pots out of bamboo as well as building the fire and along with Anna’s assistance, made a wonderful dinner.

And they provided booze in the form of local whisky, presumably made from rice!

I really was not that useful as standing up required a huge amount of effort and so slept soundly – near enough anyway – for the whole night after I’d had my fill of dinner (a very delicious potato soup was the stand out thing in my mind).

Due to my foot making it hard for me to walk a lot and often, my second day of the trek was cut very short and after watching a squirrel get shot for lunch I, with Sap’s assistance left the others to finish out the trek with a serious hike and arranged to meet them near the road to Pai after they were done.

Despite my slight injury I really did enjoy myself on the 2 days and would do it again, given a few months of gym time obviously.

Luang Prabang

I’m in Laos now, more specifically in the town of Luang Prabang, a UNESCO protected World Heritage site.

Town is very pedi friendly, so I’m a happy chappy.

I’ll have more to say in a day or two.

Chai-Niz Bungalows, Pai, 6th – 17th February

Called this place after finding them in Rough Guide. Price is a winner, less than £3 (150 baht) per night per hut; 250 baht for the ones on stilts and there are also a couple of Tee-pees for 100 baht a night.

Very basic bamboo huts, quite spacious inside for the size of the hut’s. Shared facilities but well maintained, even has hot water showers. A nice relaxation area and several fire pits for late night bonfires which are a must in the area as the nights can get pretty cold.

Other than the huts being basic and it being not that easy to find (Other side of the river behind a couple of similar operations), it is a good place to stay for those on a serious budget.

Cake>Pai

We – Anna, Luke, Mat & I – spent some time while in Pai doing a spot of sightseeing.  We visited a bridge the Japanese used as a supply route in World War II:

As well as Pai canyon, a waterfall and a working rice paddy:

It was also Luke’s birthday during our time in Pai. We as usual ate at Na’s, however Anna arranged for a cake and candles to be brought out. Very impressive cake and Luke was I’m sure very surprised by it all, especially when half the restaurant joined in with Happy Birthday, before helping polish off his cake.

The rest of our time in Pai passed very quickly in a haze of Jungle Trekking (Post to come shortly), drinks and sunbathing. In the final few days we met another couple of people from “the group”: Clare & Shaheen, and many drinks where had over the days we were in Pai together.

However, eventually the slow pace of life in Pai gets to you and Anna moved onto Laos, a few days after Luke & Mat did the same and I moved back to Chiang Mai to sort a new battery for my netbook – it gives 2 hours max these days. The bus ride back was great fun, sitting chatting with a couple of Monks at the back of the bus, which had stacks of leg room, only place that did.

So I am back in Chiang Mai for a short while, before heading to Laos myself.