Laos

This whole post has to talk about Laos. This is going to be a long one...

I got anxious to get out of Thailand, but was still enjoying myself a great deal in Chiang Mai. I ended up staying there way too long. One day I looked in my passport and saw that I needed to leave the country that very day. This is a slight problem, because overstaying in Thailand costs 500 baht a day. That's 12,50 in euros. A lot of money for a country like Thailand where the food is 75 cents. Directly I booked a ticket out of the country, but this meant I would only leave the next day, a one day overstay of 500 baht. Luckily once I got to the border, he didn't even say anything, I was very happy.

Into Laos, tons of travelers jump on a very slow boat, dubbed the 'Slow boat'. From the border with Thailand it takes 2 days to reach Luang Prabang, with an overnight stay in a very local little villages on the Mekong river called Pakbeng. The scenery is beautiful, but after seeing so much of Asia already, I wasn't too astonished anymore. Still the boat ride turned out to be a very relaxing trip. As soon as we arrived in Luang Prabang, dark clouds formed above our head and it started pouring down. We walked through the rain to find a hostel which was found in 'Spicy backpackers.'

Luang Prabang, as viewed from the mountain top with the temple, is a very small French 18th centruy colonized city. No high rise (no buildings higher then 7 stories are allowed in Laos), no concrete, no massive streets. It's all small and picturesque French styled mansions and surroundings. I felt living 200 years ago, time stood still here in architectural terms.

To Vang Vieng, but since this is a public blog: -- censoring applied -- (To those curious look up: 'Vang Vieng tubing') The Blue lagoon, about an hour in a tuk tuk, is a small river where you can swing some ropes and jump from tree height into blue water. Next to it, for the more adventurous, there is a cave. Trying to be brave we (Brazil, England and Holland representing) went into, probably deeper then anybody else who ventures into the dark. After a while there was a small hole, that was all were we could go. Crazy as we are, we went through to see the other side. We went around the edge of a 5m deep pitt (doesn't sound high, but if you fall) and stood on the edge of a cliff. This is were our journey ended and proud we walked/climbed back.

Vientiane. Probably the most relaxed capital in the world. With their own 4 arched 'arch the triumph', big governmental buildings and French influence there is an overload of Baguette and French restaurants (and French in general). One can rent a bicycle and move around not worrying about the hazards found in the crazy traffic in South East Asia in general, where motorcycles and tuk tuk's drive like maniacs. I ended up in Vientiane's only 'film festival' and watch a free movie or 2.

From now the pace of my traveling went uphill. I spend so much time in Vang Vieng, I needed to extend my 1 month visa for another week, otherwise I wouldn't be able to see the deep south of Laos. So I extended my visa for an extra week and went to move a bit faster, something I didn't do before on this trip. From Vientiane a slow bus to Tha Kek.

Everything in Laos is slow. The boats, buses, tuk tuk's, people. So slow and at peace that the French said: 'The Vietnamese plant the rice, the Cambodians watch it grow and the Laos listen to it grow.' They are seriously chilled people and everything that doesn't have to be done today, can be done tomorrow. You can easily add an extra hour to every bus ride you take.

In Tha Kek I met another Dutch man, an English girl and a American girl. We ended up doing my most favorite trip so far 'The Loop.' More on this on a separate blog post

In Pakse a temple visit and afterwards to Don Det (Been there, Don Det) which is part of the 4000 islands. Into Cambodia!

weer heel wat plaatsen bezocht! zou een kaart er bij kunnen? dat scheelt me heel wat zoekwerk!

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