Si Phan Don (4000 Islands)

The southernmost point of Laos is called Si Phan Don, which means 4000 islands. This area forms the border with Cambodia and consists of a series of very quiet islands in the Mekong. We stayed 22 hours on 'Don Kong' and almost three days on smaller 'Don Det'. Why did we flee Don Kong after less than one day? Because we were bored to death! There was literally nothing to do, nothing to see, no one to meet and worst of all...no internet, scary right? Haha! I am sure many people are dying to spend one or more days in such a deserted place, but to us it felt uncomfortable and we wanted to leave asap.

The pictures below are taken on Don Det, a far more interesting place, even though life here moves slowly as well but with a little more atmosphere and charm. As on the other island, there are no cars, everyone cycles, some use a scooter and we just walked, all day long...Through rice fields and along the river...Enjoying the sun, slurping down fresh watermelon shakes... It was the perfect ending to our two week stay in lovely Laos!

South Laos

With the city of Pakse as departure area, we decided to discover the southern Champasak province by scooter. We had attempted a similar tour in the middle of Laos but heavy rains and flooded roads forced us to leave that area and move down south.

We planned a loop of three days, allowing us to visit several villages, water falls and the Bolaven Plateau, known for its ethnic groups and coffee plantations. Stefan, a German guy who's traveling around the world for one year, joined us. On the first day, we drove 80 kilometers and spent the night in a small place called Tat lo. The ride was very enjoyable and more importantly, dry.

When we were making a little pit stop along the road, we met an American girl who's working as a volunteer in an eco school. She invited us to visit this project and have lunch with her and some of the other staff members. The school was founded four years ago and has about 15 Lao students graduating every year. Students are between 15 and 25 years old and from various villages around the province. They are taught everything about sustainable agriculture during six months and after their graduation, they are encouraged to set up a little business back in their home towns. Staff of this school is following up on them and helps them purchasing what they need in the city and often grants them micro loans. 

I was most impressed by the mushroom house they had built for less than 100 dollars. They grow the mushrooms in a dim clay house, out of bottles. Hard to explain, but on the pictures you'll see how it looks like:-)

Tomorrow, I'll post about the second part of this trip, a little less idyllic than the first day:-)

In the tubing: Vang Vieng

Second stop in Laos: Vang Vieng! World famous for only one business: TUBING. Most of you have already seen pictures on Facebook but I'll explain you here what it is all about.

A typical day of tubing starts with...sleeping in. Oh yes, there is no haste in the sleepy town of Vang Vieng, no rush to be the first one in the tube, on the water or along the shore because you'll be the only one and all the 'attractions' on your way will be deserted. So around noon, you head for  the central tube station in the village, you pay four dollars for using an inflated tractor-tyre tube and about eight dollars deposit. A number is written on your hand, so if something happens to you, the tube owner will be able to identify the bad tourist that didn't return his precious toy. Then, it's all in a mini-van, tubes on top and drop-off three kilometers further at the left bank of the Nam Song river. If you think, like us, that you can start floating down the stream right away, you're wrong. There is a compulsory stop at the other side of the river that will give you an idea of the rest of your journey.

Free shots, pumping music, ridiculously cheap buckets full of alcohol, drinking games, dancing and smoking people...Welcome to tubing! It all looked very funny and surreal at 1 pm, in full day light.

We actually really wanted to start floating but every time we tried to escape that bar, someone came up to us and started talking or begged us to wait for the 'rest of the group'. We definitely weren't part of any group but some courteous American tourists clearly thought otherwise. After a good half hour, we finally managed to grab our tubes and off we went, all excited for our 90 minutes of river fun!

We teamed up with Kris and Kalle, an Irish/Scandinavian couple we had met a couple of days earlier on our Mekong trip and it's definitely 'more people, more happiness' (dixit a Chinese couple that tried to scam us in Shanghai) when you're in the tubes!

So where was I....Oh yeah, 90 minutes of tubing....Forget about that! Only two minutes after our escape from Star Bar (or something like that), we were pulled in by another place of doom. Their 'river bouncers' are throwing a bottle, attached to a string, at you and when you grab it, they pull you into their bar. This time, we had the place all to ourselves and we felt like trying a little game of 'beer pong'. Girls against boys was the original plan, but Kris and I were soon replaced by two six year old girls that were hanging around that place. They were extremely cute and funny to watch but on the other hand, the whole show was a little awkward as well, as these kids seem to spend their days playing around that bar. 

By now, I am sure, you have all grasped the idea of tubing: it's just a giant pub crawl along the river and some people don't even bother to rent a tube, they'll just walk from one bar to the other or they'll 'borrow' a tube from tourists that are not paying attention, basically everyone who's drinking. Hence the warning for 'bad tourist people'. Every year people die, as often huge amounts of alcohol and drugs are involved. You will see on one of the pictures what's available in the more dodgy places. Because drinking isn't the only activity on Nam Song. There are trapezes, springboards and zip lines. There is jumping on and off a floating mattress, called The Big Blop and there is a monstrous looking slide that had Benoit all excited and me all freaked out. So you can figure the dangers when all of this is combined with big buckets and opium shakes. 

For those who are concerned right now (moms and dads, aunts and uncles....): we enjoyed tubing responsibly and are still alive and well, we returned to our guest house with only a couple of (small) bruises and scratches on our legs and backs.

After we finished most of the activities (I forgot to mention the body painting that only came off after 12 showers) we decided to float back to the tubing station, not realizing it was after 7pm and getting darker faster than expected. This made our last 20 minutes on the river pretty spooky, not being able to see anything around us, silently doubting whether there really weren't any crocodiles in that water.

But we've made it, even though we lost part of our deposits, we were happy to touch land and prove that we were not bad tourist people! 

Tak Bat

Every morning, at the break of dawn, hundreds of monks pass through the streets of Luang Prabang, receiving small amounts of sticky rice from pious townspeople. The monks are barefoot and meditating, showing the world they still live in humble and poor conditions. Their benefactors are giving them alms in the form of rice, thus paying their respect to the monks and Buddha. In return, they receive spiritual merit. This procession takes place every single day, not only in Luang Prabang but in many other places in Laos, and is called Tak Bat. It is a very quiet procession, the monks are meditating and no one is supposed to address them or disturb them by taking pictures with flash for example. Tourists are asked to be very discreet, watch from a distance and take pictures with zoom lenses. Unfortunately, not everyone bothers to inform themselves about tak bat and certain tourists run after the monks, poking their cameras into their faces. As a consequence, this ritual might soon be cancelled as it is becoming a tourist show rather than a spiritual exchange between monks and laypeople.

Luang Prabang: the historic part

Luang Prabang might be my favorite city on this trip so far...It doesn't really feel like a city because it is so green and laid-back. It has been voted 'best city in the world to visit' by a leading British travel magazine for several years in a row now and I totally support this number one choice! We stayed in a nice guest house (for only 5 euro a night!) in the historic part of Luang Prabang and we loved its colonial charm, its quiet streets and its abundance of coffee houses. We found a great place called 'Le Banneton' and enjoyed their French breakfasts every single morning, a much appreciated change from our   noodle soups!