Singing In Laos
We took a 3 hour bus from Vientiane to Vang Vieng, which is along the Mekong River. On one side there are mountains & the other side of the river you see limestone karsts. It is a very picturesque and a popular spot for the young backpacker crowd.
As the story goes, Lonely Planet (travel books) discovered this area a couple of years ago and now there are many guest houses, bungalows, and small hotels. With our room karma working, we found a nice bungalow for $18 a night in a quiet spot off the main road along the river.
We were not impressed with the “downtown” area at all. The few streets all looked the same, and all the restaurants and shops had the same ugly yellow signs. No charm quality about it and way too many moronic ‘Friends’ reruns on the TV’s! I never liked that show anyways. There is a backpacker den across the river where the young party till the break of dawn. Flashing lights, loud music, campfires, it’s a happening.
What attracts both the young (besides the partying) and young at heart about this area besides the views are the outdoor activities. There is tubing,
rafting, & kayaking on the river. Rent bicycles or walk along the many paths that lead to caves and rock climbing or just wander through the countryside. You can walk over rice paddies and farmland and never see a ‘no trespassing’ sign.
The karsts have many caves and the locals will stake one out, put up a sign, and charge anywhere from $1 - $3 to either guide you inside or allow you to enter on your own. We are not sure how one claims a cave, but some of the caves are manned by kids. We entered one cave with a sitting Buddha inside and a rock climb for a view of the entire valley. You can see by the pictures that the climb had some very inventive ladders made out of bamboo. They use bamboo for scaffolding as Bill showed, inside and outside of bungalows, railings and walkways over rivers and stream crossings. How about a bamboo
umbrella and stand!
I titled this update ‘Singing in Lao’, because they love to sing. They could be walking through their gardens, tending their cattle or water buffalo, or just relaxing, young and old sing. It is very pleasant to hear.
We are in northern Lao and close to some of the Hmong villages. The Hmongs sided with the Americans during the Vietnam War and there is still some
hostility against them by the rest of the communist/democratic Lao. In fact the US allowed many of the Hmongs to migrate to America because of their help. I can remember my dear mother-in-law talking about the Hmongs who moved to her Wisconsin town. Bill and I were clueless at the time who they were. She learned to warm up to them at her farmer’s market and said they had the best produce and she was right! The Lao food is not as spicy (hot) as Thai, but some dishes have a mild punch to them. Their veggies, yogurt, and tofu are super fresh.
As we walked about during our 4 days here, we saw the evidence of how poor the people are. Because they have no running water, they bathe, brush their teeth, and wash their clothes in the river. Tourism is helping some and we hope it continues at an even pace so as not to destroy the area.
We hit a bit of cool weather for a couple of days, so we wore our 2 long sleeve shirts but then the weather turned warm again. The cold weather came down from neighboring China (about 6 hour bus ride north). We have been on the road for 4 months and are in a good rhythm, still enjoying the new sights, and the local and foreigners we meet. This is really turning into a trip of a lifetime and as always I love being with my husband 24/7.
Marge
