Hi everyone!!
So, I'm not sure that I can remember everything to write... I've been having a really nice time with the Germans. In Luang Prabang we visited some nice Wats (temples) and went out to a Lao disco which was hilerious. Here in Lao there is a curfew at 11:30pm where pretty much everything closes - I'm not sure if it is to do with the country having Heritage Laws and / or if it is to do with the country being communist. But there are a few places which can open for a few more hours and we went to one of these places - it was great.
Then the group decided to get the bus to Vientiene - the capital and I decided to go with them. The bus ride was supposed to take 9 hrs (to go 400km) but in Lao and especially in the rainy season you should never expect a bus ride to stick to the schedule. And as expected, the bus journey took 12 hrs - which turned out to be better than lots of other people's journeys who they said took them 20 hrs!!
So we had landslides to go around, had to get off the bus for the bus not to get bogged and just had to generally manage crazy roads. I spoke to another girl who said her bus couldn't get past a landslide and they had to hike 3-4kms with their backpacks up through a village to get past!!! I'm so glad this wasn't me!!
Anyway the journey was beautiful - going past very small villages in the mountains with their thached houses and satelites. It was really beautiful.
So the first day in Vientiene we just walked around and then saw a beutiful sunset by the mekong. It was really nice because at sunset, all the local people come out to be in the public space by the mekong - you can ride your bikes, walk and the kids play in a really nice park. The weather here has been really nice - not one bit of rain which has been great!!
Then yesterday we decided to rent a car and go by ourselves to the national park. This by far has been my absolute best part of the trip because by renting a car and going on your own it is the only way to get off the tourist trail and discover villages and places to eat and kids on your own.
So we started the trip in the morning - we had a 4 wheel drive pick up which they all seem to drive around here. We stopped at a market to eat - no westerners there, only locals, cows, chickens and ducks and everyone was really friendly and the kids were gorgeous. I even saw women weaving baskets which was great. No one knows any english so to order food we indicated that we would have the same as the locals were eating (some kind of noodle soup). When I got my soup I realised that there were intestines and stomach of an animal in the soup - great!!!!!!!!! Well I skipped those bits...
From the market we drove on and passed by a village where the kids ran out and were absolutely gorgeous. There was this one girl - Mai who was 9 years old and asked to have a photo with me - I think she liked me it was so cute!! (So I have the photos of these kids). And the adults in this village were all so friendly - everyone waving and smiling. I was so glad we saw these kids.
Then we drove off road to the waterfall in the national park - it was really fun and we were really lucky that the guys could drive the car ok. It took us 1 hr to go 5-10 kms off road!
On the way back we stopped again by the road at what we thought was a resturant for food - again only locals there and no one spoke english so it was hilerious to try and order food - at one stage we thought we might have crashed a family because they didn't seem to be responding when we were indicating that we wanted something to eat! In the end we got food which was great.
All along these roads you have to dodge cows and dogs and there are also lots of buffalo. Out in this rural area we also saw types of vehicles we had never seen before - amazing!!
So it ended up that I was so lucky to have met this group because I would never have been able to have this experience travelling on my own. So Galit - the answer to your question about how to get off the tourist trail in Vietnam - rent a car!!
Anyway, in two days time, 2 of the Germans have to go back to Germany :(. I may continue with the other one - Simon, and continue to go down south which will end up at the Four Thousand Islands which apparently are really nice.
So, thats probably it for now :)
xxx Orna
