Frolicking in Asia

I have been back to Europe for over two weeks now, so it is high time I closed this travel blog. I had an amazing time, and the last couple of weeks were definitely as perfect of a closing as it could be.

After the 8 days of chilling on Tioman island I returned to Kuala Lumpur for a day, as Peter was arriving the day after. I had to get up early enough to pick him up from the airport, but still he was waiting for me there rather than me waiting for him. It was lovely, still. We had another flight to take that day up to the north, to Kota Bharu (where I swore never to return last time I was there), being the closest where you can fly to get to the Perhentian Islands, my favourite place on Earth. Poor Peter was alreawdy on flights and on airports for almost 24 hours at that stage, but we still had to wait half a day for the flight. No sleep for the wicked!
Luckily the flight was on time and it was a short one. We took a taxi to our chosen hotel that was highly recommended on tripadvisor. Well, we experienced all the opposite of the recommendations but nevermind, all we wanted is sleep. Still, we made it to the nightmarket that evening, and what is more memorable, is that walk home in the pouring rain. Welcome Peter to the tropical Malaysia, wish you left irish weather home!

Next morning we took a taxi to the jetty and arrived on the island around 9am. It was easy enough to find an accomodation, and our bungalow was right behind Angel Divers. Just as well, we headed straight there to sign Peter up on his diving course. It was nice to see a few familiar faces and meet the new ones. What a lovely bunch of people!
After that, our days were spent diving, sun bathing, and more diving. I only had to wait two days till I could go diving with Peter. We had some amazing dives, some amazingly curious fish, beautiful visibility and the deepest blue I’ve ever seen! And above water? Still the most relaxing, most chilled out, most beautiful, most charming place in the world for me. I couldnt’t get bored of it. After two days we moved to a different bungalow at the end of the beach, on the rocks, with the most stunning views on the beach and the sea.
Originally Peter had plans to check out a few other things in Malaysia during the two weeks, maybe Singapore, but I could see on the 3rd day it won’t happen. Leaving after 10 days was still very painful for me. We did dive every single day, including the last day, that led to leaving my bikini on the beach. We decided it was symbolical, kinda. I know I will be back to the Perhentians again, one of those places I will keep going back to. And I know it will be the same.

Before taking the plane back to Europe, we stayed one day in Kuala Lumpur. My 7th visit, but Peters first. Didn’t start very well as we arrived with a nightbus very early morning and we couldn’t check in our hotel until midday. We walked to the Petronas towers to get tickets for the SKy Bridge. It says it opens at 8.30am so we waited about an hour and a half, just to be told it was open from 6am that day so the tickets were sold out. We were very pissed off, needless to say, so we had to go shopping. It was very succesfull for both me and Peter, especially me, who got a belated birthday present in form of an amazingly weird and unique dress. Yay! It was actually refreshing to put on a dress and see the real Agota, haha, I’ve been looking at the backpacker version of me for too long!
We went back to the hotel in better spirits and got even happier once we got our room. It was a 3 star hotel and it did live up to it. We had an afternoon nap and only left the room in the evening to go to Chinatown for a dinner and a stroll. We ate in one of the street restaurants, and even though I was worried as I only had bad experience in Chinatown considering food, and this was my last dinner in Asia so I wished it to be nice, I must say it was really delicious! I did eat asian food, and a delicious one, so a perfect last supper! After dindins we bbought a few presents for the family and went back home.
Another early morning to catch our planes (unfortunately, seperate ones). We ordered breakfast to go but they forgot about! Being hungry didn’t help the fact that missing every single transport on my way I almost missed my flight. They were calling for the last passangers, check in was closing in 5 minutes. I don’t think I ever would have come back home if I missed this one!

To be honest, I was happy, not happy to leave but happy in general so I wasn’t depressed about leaving. I wasn’t depressed even after 13,5 hours flight from Kuala Lumpur to London, without anything to read, without anything to watch and with Valiums that didn’t work. I survived. But I was all of a sudden depressed as we landed in Dublin in a horrible windy rainy storm, me in my flipflops and no warm clothes and Ireland with its full on summer weather. Bit of a shock.

So this was two weeks ago and post holiday blues still hasnt hit me and I can only hope that I can sort a room and a job out before it does.

So this is it, the end of this blog and all the photos are up on Facebook now. But stay tuned, as this is definitely to be continued…

Oh my dear diary, my dear friends. Managed to follow up on my frolics here for almost 7 month and then I am useless in the last month? That would be me, yes. I am now in Kuala Lumpur for the 5th time on this trip. And not the last time! The guy at the hostel recognised me. I guess there aren’t many hungarians around.

Since my last entry, I had a pretty good time. After Siem Reap we took the bus to Battambang. It is another charming cambodian town, and we were ther eon the weekend, so it was full of weddings! The first day we did nothing (i had a migraine that developed from a severe hangover. my first migraine ever, and i hope the last.), but the second day we went on a tuk tuk tour around the area. We tried the bamboo train, which was great fun. It is an old institution. Nowdays there are no passanger trains in Cambodia (hardly any cargo either), but most of the tracks are still there. People used the tracks to transport goods, etc. They put these wheels on the rail and put a flat bamboo seating on it. We rode it for about 20 minutes, and got off at a small village, where two very cute little boy guided us around. That was probably the highlight of the day, as far as I remember, the other sights were temples. We also visited the old train station in Battambang. It was abandoned, we thought, but a few families moved in, and in general, the area was full of poor housing and poor people, half naked dirty kids running around, totally happy of course!

Our next stop was Kompong Chhnang. A stop, we thought, but the bus forgot to drop us off! So we had to get off at the next town and take a minivan back. It is another way of transport in Cambodia, and there is no such thing as a full minivan. It was packed, windows broken, so when it started to rain, since you couldn’t close the windows, they put on the heating!! We were sweating, it was still around 30 degrees, but the locals were cold.

Kompong Chhnang is a very small town, but oh my god is it lovely! We were probably the only tourists there, and people, especially the kids were so lovely!! I never took so many photos. The town is known for its vietnamese floating villages, and for a reason. It is so atmospheric, we looked around in a boat and we loved it. They have floating shops, shops in a boat, floating garage, everything you can imagine! It was hard to leave this place, but the beach was waiting!

And here it comes… the beach… Sihanoukville didn’t really do it for me, but the islands!! We spent 4 nigyhts on Bamboo Island, one of the highlights of my trip. There was only one group of bungalows, with one bar and restaurant, so it really felt like a little family. We didn’t really want to leave.

The other great thing was my diving trip. I booked an overnight package that included 5 dives and a night at Koh Rung Samloem. It was a beautiful island with only two dive companies and a small fishing village. I’ve never seen so green water, and it was amazing to be back under water. We didn’t see anything usual but the 2 dives on the second day were really memorable, there were just so many fish!

Not on the beach, but after all this awesomeness we went to Kampot. Again, such a cool town! It is set by the river and is lined with cool bars and restaurants. We were lucky enough to be invited to a wedding as well. It was so much fun, we had to dance all night, as soon as we sit down, either the girls or the boys grabbed our hands and pulled us back in. The other highlight was the Bokor Hill Station, and abandoned hotel on the top of a hill. We got there just before midday after trekking 2-3 hours uphill, just in time to see the beautiful view. A second later a huge cloud came in and got stuck on the top. Soon enough we couldn’t see further than 2 meters. It was creepy, scary and absolutely amazing at the same time. I love abandoned houses, and abandoned houses in serious fog are even better.

After a short stop at lovely posh Kep (and another motocross ride in the countryside - beautiful beautiful salt fields and villages and beaches) we took the boat to Rabbit Island, just half an hour off the coast. Yet again, a beautiful island but it was deserted! The whole beach is lined with bungalows but I am sure there were about 5 of us staying on the island. There were also a few daytrippers, but they were all gone by 3pm. I’m not complaining, I love a good quiet beach, and there was hardly any electricity anyway (from 6pm to 10pm, but it was sometimes switched off earlier), it was a good relaxing couple of days. We had a bit of trouble getting off the island as they forgot to pick us up, but eventually we did and took a bus to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Phen.

And i looooooooved it! I think I said this about everything in Cambodia, and how true. I loved this country! PP was really nice and good fun. It was our last night in Cambodia, and our last night traveling together with Jo, so we decided to go out. Only a little. We met up with a friend of a friend in an irish pub, who took us to a cambodian institution, apparently, Martini Bar. It was mad. I’m so glad I got to see it. I can’t really put it into words, but let’s just say we finally felt like being in 1982 again. We just had to go and check out the other side of the city, so we went to one of the most popular clubs, Heart of Darkness. I had to go there if only for the name, but it was cool, funny still, not 2011 but more like 2004. Much much better!

After that I flew to Kuala Lumpur and went straight to Tioman Island for a week, and now I’m back in KL and Peter is arriving in 10 hours so I’m a little bit excited.

I am home in two weeks!

In the end I think I only stayed 5 days (or 6 days?) on Don Det. Jo left a day before me, the day after my birthday, but I didn’t want to move just then. Met some other people I knew from before and sure I did say a loud goodbye to Laos and left with many happy memories and a hangover.

Crossing the border to Cambodia was painless. Well, almost. Crossing was fine, but as soon as we crossed, the air conditioning died and this bus had those windows you can’t open so we were quite literally melting in there. It was a nightmare and it lasted for about 3-4 hours, that easily felt the double. My first stop in Cambodia was Kratie, a little riverside town by the Mekong. The book didn’t say much about it, so I was pleasantly surprised that the town was charming, charming, with many things to do. We just chilled out the first afternoon testing the Cambodian beers on a balcony chatting to an ex-pat. The second day we rented bicycles and crossed the river to a little island called Koh Trong. There’s a dirt road around it so we slowly rode all around, greeting people, laughing with kids, talking to locals, being chased by various animals. It was lovely, but so so hot! Sweating doesn’t really describe what I am doing, any other words for it, something that involves a waterfall?? I know, I really shouldn’t share all this.

In the afternoon, instead of cycling again, we decided to just take a tuk-tuk to see the endangered dolphins in the Mekong river. It was funny, actually exciting to try and spot the dolphins, never knowing where they turn up. They didn’t come near or anything, but still, sitting in a boat in the middle of the river always jumping a little when a fin surfaces, can’t be too bad.

The next day we took the bus to Kompong Chom, to avoid the 10 hours bus ride to Siem Reap. It ended up being another good decision. Again, Lonely Planet says there is not much reason to linger on, but upon arrival I was handed a couple of maps with things and see and do. I had to leave the day after to meet Jo in Siem Reap, but I still attempted to see something. Got on the bike and cycled out to the nearest temple just over 3 kms away. I know it sounds nothing, but in that heat and on that bike it was already a mission in itself. The temple was amazing, a very colourful and kirky temple built inside the ruins of an old one surrounded by monasteries. I could not bring myself to cycle another 7km to the next sight, but I’m glad I did see at least this one.

So I have been in Siem Reap for a few days now and I do love it here, even if it is touristy as hell. It is the right kind of touristy, without being sleazy. Lots of nice and overpriced restaurants of course, but so. good. food! Met many many people I’ve met on my travels in the past 2 months, it is crazy! Everyone is here! Also it has many cool bars, some with good music even?? I had to come to Cambodia for good music? Loving it. Also, booze is cheap. I mean cheap compared to western prices, not so cheap for my budget, but still acceptable. ($0.50-$1 for a beer, $1.50-$2.50 for a long drink or cocktail). Unfortunately!

Even though the temptation to relax and have fun is big, me and Jo did manage to get to the Angkor Wat site twice already. And twice for sunrise, only we missed it the first time. Today, we were the first there! All I need to say about Angkor Wat is: believe the hype. It’s good to go early and escape the crowds, much more enjoyable than sharing the temples with hundreds of thai package tourists.

For the moment I kinda gave up uploading photos, partly because the internet is rather slow, because I have no time, and mostly because my photos are all over the place, I have no idea which DVD or which memory cards contain photos from where and when. It’s all a mess now, and anyway, I have only 45 days left of my travels, I’m sure you can wait that much. But I might upload a few maybe when I stop a bit on the beach. Soon!

ps. why are the cambodian women wear pyjamas during the day? some with make up and high heels. strange fashion!

 I am writing this entry on Jo`s laptop, not in an internet cafe, so not paying hard earned cash to gather my thoughts. It also means this entry is going to be longer and more detailed, kinda how my blog would have looked liked if I did take a laptop with me. Also, lots of things happened!

Traveling off the main tourist trail started with me and Jo taking a tuk-tuk to the souther bus terminal in Vientiane. We were trying to take a local bus to Ban Khun Kham, where the creept Kong Lor cave is. Of course in Laos if anything moves, it moves in the morning, so by the time we got there we had to take a different bus nearby and change there for a pick up truck. Needless to say, our supposedly 3 hours drive ended up nearing 7 hours, so we got to the first town around 5pm, just to catch the last truck going to the village.  The village itself consists of one single road full of guesthouses, one market and one single restaurant. The tourist scene is mostly for the thai and domestic tourists so the accomodation was nicer than average. Still, a cockroahc did find its way on my head at night!

The next day we took another pick up truck to the cave. There you had to charter a boat, since there is a river flowing through this cave. The cave itself is about 7km long and there is no lighting inside, so it is completely dark as soon as you enter, only the boat driver and Jo`s torch gave some light. It was very scary at first but then just exciting. There is one bit where you can get out of the boat and walk around, where all the strange formations are, this part has lights of course. We had fun, decided this is the perfect scene for our very own Blair Witch Project, so some videos were taped…

After the cave we attempted to find the waterfall near the village but after 2kms of walking we realised we reached and emtpy river bed. End of the dry season, what can I say. Probably there were no waterfall at this time of the year, and the path that led there disappeared halfway too so we gave up.

Our second stop was Savannakhet. The way there was one of the my worst journeys ever. First of all, it is around 40 degrees now. We knew the pick up is leaving at 8.30am, so we got there around 8am. The truck was full already (with locals and their goods). There was an extra wooden bench in the middle where they made some space for us. Imagine sitting in 40 degrees in the middle of a pick up truck (so not much air) on a wooden bench on bad roads for 3 hours without being able to move your legs. But the worst wasn`t my legs. My bum was hurting so much! We were looking forward to change to the bus later, but we didn`t expect that the bus will be even worse! It was also overbooked, so we had to sit on tiny plastic chairs between the seats. It wass even hotter than the pick up, the bus having no natural AC or anything on board. After about 30 minutes the lady sitting next to me also started to throw up in a plastic bag, just to make things worse. luckily she got off not long after so at least I could take her place.

In Savannakhet we were also a bit unlucky. The room we found had AC at least, but in the first room it didn`t work so we had to change. In the second room the door was broken, but we stayed in there, only every single time we wanted to get in we had to call someone to open it for us as we couldn;t make the key work. Nevermind. But when i wanted to have a shower all of a sudden a whole army of moquitos attacked me, seriously, there were hundreds of them, starvingly flying at me! Had to run out naked! I out some mosquito coils in and a few hours later they were dead. We also found cigarette butts and (unused) condoms in the room. Eeeek! We were also quite unlucky with food, as everything seemed to be closed, and the only place we found, an overpriced thai restaurant totally didn`t know how to cook curry. It was very disappointing.

Our plan was to rent a motorbike for the next day and do a loop in the area. Since I had no shoes, first I had to buy one, then I had to learn how to drive a motorbike. I drove scooters  many times now on this trip, but not a real bike. It`s not that much different, only the brake and the gears… but I lrean fast. So with Jo on the back we headed off with a so-so map.

Driving wasn`t so bad, but we soon met the first problems… the roads! It was lovely and paved in the town, but as soon as we left Savannakhet we turned on a dirt road. It was still smooth(ish) though. Later on we actually drove about 70-80 kms on rollercoaster dirt roads. it was more like motocross, than driving though. Considering I only started to ride two wheelers on this trip, and that this was my first ever motorbike, I must say I did very well. Slowly but surely we got through every hump and ditch safely. Once we even had to cross a river. Well, to push the bike across a river anyway.

It was a great day. We visited plenty of villages where we felt like stars, everyone, but really everyone said hello to us, smiled at us, greeted us. We went to a monkey forest and fed monkeys. We were invited to a table full of Lao men eating fish head soup (constantly offered to us constantly declined by us, haha!), drinking beer. We got a big kiss from one of them so we smelled like fish for the rest of the day. We also went to see a lake full of turtles. We also saw a mini crocodile there, quite creepy! We did all we wanted and then headed home on the paved road. It was getting dark so I went as fast as I felt safe. But then something horrible happened. We were passing through a town when I saw something in front of me. A light came up behind it and I saw a silhouette of a frog jumping across the road. I couldn`t stop, as Jo put it, it was either us or the frog. I was hoping that it would jump out of our way, but you know what frogs do when they`re scared. They freeze. I ran over it. I don`t think I will ever get over that bump and the sound that came with it. Seriously traumatic. Poor froggy. Rest in peace.

Next stop was Tat Lo on Bolaven Plateau.  We took an OK bus to Pakse in the morning. We got there around 3pm and had to take another bus to Tat Lo. When you think travel can`t get any worse, you always make the mistake of taking another bus. This one was like being in the purgatory. There were no windows OR air conditioning. Nothing! it was so hot like nothing else. They made us sit there ad wait for the driver while he picks up more people and goes off to buy some water etc for himself. I was sitting there and not only sweating, but dripping sweat! Horrible I know. Luckily this was only a 2 hour ride and we were rewarded with a lovely little village, a lively and friendly little community and 3 huge waterfalls to swim at. We stayed there 3 nights, and when I wasn`t busy befriending my hammock we eaither went to the falls or went trekking through tribe villages meeting people who didn`t even speak the language of Laos. Meanwhile eating the best banana chocolate pancakes for breakfast. very relaxing!

But the time of the hellish journeys wasn`t over yet. From here we were driven back to Pakse where we had to take another pick up yet again to Champasak. It started badly. When we asked about the pick up everyone just showed us in a direction, unwillingly. We found the truck but had to ask the driver about 3 times if it was the right one before he answered - not even looking at us. We were considering waiting for the next one (as this was full anyway - although there is no such thing as a full pick up in Laos), but we really just wanted to get there. it is meant to be only an hour drive anyway. meant to be, are the key words. We managed to get ourselves into the pick up, only to be driven 5 minutes where the truck stopped and lots of the passangers plus the dreiver headed off to the market to do some shopping. As I said, the pick up was already full not only with people but with goods as well, nevertheless everyone arrived back with even more stuff! One lady tied a plastic bag full of dried fish just next to my head. It was disgusting. The 3 older ladies in front of me, well, facing me, crushed to me, were also chewing on betel seeds so they were spitting the red thick matter in a plastic bag. Altogether we waited ne whole hour at the market in the hear, stuck in a pick up. I think i rethought my future travel plans at least a hundred times during that hour.

Chapasak was nice though. We ended up staying a day longer than plaanned, just because transport was so difficult from there. It is on the wrong side of the Mekong. Not that I minded sitting in a lounge chair reading with my feet up looking at the Mekong all day. we also rented bicycles and visited a 1500 year old temple. Well, the ruins of it. it was very nice though, although not at all as spiritual as the ones in Burma. It was also full of thai tourists wanting to taking their photos with us.

Now I am relaxing on Don Det, one of the 4000 Islands that is near the border of Cambodia. I am getting ready to cross the border in a few days, but I definitely need a few days here chilling in my hammock (which hammock, by the way, crashed underneath me on the second day!) drinking cold beer and NOT traveling. Oh the wonderfulness of not traveling but still being somewhere! Don Det is the perfect place. It is in a beautiful setting and our bungalow is just by the river. You can swim, float about in a tube, kayak (which I`m not doing), raft (which I`m not doing) and all kinds of activites (which I`m not doing). But I do practice beer drinking, happy hours and huge big Lao breakfasts. Just the important things.

Next stop: Cambodia!

Lao New Year in Vientiane, Laos

Vang Vieng, Laos

Northern Laos

Wowowow I’ve been frolicking so hard I had no time (and strength) to update. No news is good news! This is what I had in draft though…

I’m just back from the land of no internet and no mobile phone reception. It was wonderful. Why would you need any of those when you have the most beautiful scenery you can dream of?

My favourite place in the world today is a hammock, a hammock in a cute little Lao retaurant serving the most delicious Lao food. This restaurant is found in Nong Khiaw, a 4 hour drive up north from Luang Prabang. We spent two nights there (managed to persuade a few people to come with me instead of going to Vang Vieng straight away), and then one more night in a village whose name I cannot spell or pronounce, but it is another hour on the boat from Nong Khiaw. I can’t say I did many things. We did walk to a cave where locals were hiding during the wars. There was even a seperate cave for a bank.  Here I managed to destroy my muscles in my right tigh. You had to climb down a very steep ladder and I was scared and the steps were huge, so I totally overworked my muscles. It turned out you didn’t have to climb down there, you didn’t have to do anything, as the cave was finished. After that I was a cripple, still, we found another cave, which was much more exciting. It was very narrow and you had to use your own flashlights, but we went as deep as possible. A bit claustrophobic, but fun! The walk back was equally nice, as we walked past an elephant! An elephant, by the road, beign walked by a young boy. Coming back from the second village was adventourous as well, as we ran out of petrol about 100m before the destination. No worries, we falgged down another boat and they gave us some extra petrol, that just about lasted until we got to the boat landing.

We took a pick up back to Luang Prabang, then a few hours, a sandwich and an oreo shake later we took a so-called VIP bus to Vang Vieng. I don’t know what is VIP about loud music turned up at 1am, locals putting their feet at my face and being generally loud and unbearable, and generally being 3 hours late so we arrived in the town at 3am. Luckily we had accomodation booked by our friends, and I slept well.

Still, I was knackeered in the morning and I didn’t think I would make it to the tubing. I did. We all did. What is tubing? You rent these inner tubes of truck wheels and sit in them and float down the river. Sounds like fun, but it is mostly about drinking etc. I thought it would be too touristy, too obnoxious for me, but I was wrong. It was one of the best fun I had on my trip. I must admit, I had a wonderful group of people with me and the day was just perfect, something happened there, everyone was so happy, it was just so so so much fun!! Of course along the river there are lots of bars where you can stop for a drink, and so we did. A few cocktails and beers later we had to get out of the river and take the tubes back. We went for dinner (more drinks) and then back to the room to change, but unfortunately there I found the bed too comfortable and I couldn’t get out. In bed at 7pm?? Yessir. Not so hardcore anymore!

The second day we visited the Blue Lagoon. The name says everything. The main attraction is meant to be a cave, where we did climb up and it was huge and impressive, but the lagoon!! Again, clear blue water, freezing cold but that’s what you want when it’s boiling outside. You could jump in from the trees, there was a rope to walk over it, there were swings… good fun day on the sun and in the water, just how I like it.

Next stop was Vientiane, the capital. The Lao new year caught us there. It is a new year accodring to the buddhist calendar. It lasts for 3 days, and locals go to temples where they pour water over the buddha statues. On the first day we rented bicycles and rode around the city checking out the main sights. They weren’t as exciting but it was lovely to be around the locals. They are so so so nice people. Part of the celebrations also is to pour water on each other. In temples and with elder people it means pouring a small cup of water on your shoulder. But on the streets it was a different story. There were groups of kids staing by the roads with huge water containers, buckets and waterguns and they attacked every passer by. Including us on the bikes. Some of us had waterguns so we could fight back a little, but only a little. Nothing can beat a big bucket of ice cold water. Luckily, the temperature is perfect for this kind of game. It was kinda like a computer game, riding around in the city on the bike trying to escape the buckets of water. It was of course impossible, and I don’t think I’ve been so drenched in my life before. Of course the celebration lasted long into the night (Lao pop music anyone?), but yours truly again left the party around 11pm, after a good amount of beer, waterfight and pancake. Life is good.

There me and Jo, a canadian girl I met back in Chiang Mai and rejoined in Vang Vieng, decided to get off the main backpacker trail and NOT go to the 4000 islands straight but explore central Laosm but this has to be another entry because I’m all blogged out. I know I know, the suspention… amd photos are coming soon too!

Luang Prabang, Laos

It is now going to be difficult to choose a favourite country, as I am totally in love with Laos. For different reasons, but it is so good to be here! Of course, I haven’t really seen much yet, but it seems to me that Laos is quickly catching up with time (it has only been open for tourism since 89) while keeping their local authenticity. 

I spent a lovely week or so in Thailand though, met some great people, as always, and did a 3 day trek in the jungle, staying with a hill tribe family one night and in a bamboo camp on the second, having a beautiful waterfall as our bathroom and eating out of bamboo plates and with bamboo cutlery we carved ourselves. It was beautiful and very memorable with great conversation and rice whiskey flowing. 

From Thailand I crossed the border on a little boat to Laos, just to get on another boat that cruises down the Mekong towards Luang Prabang. The journey was long, veryy veryyy long. It included an overnight stop in a little village. I was sitting in the middle of a german group the first day so didn’t really make friends (no offence, germans, but they were all talking in german so I couldn’t join in!). I walked around in the village at night hoping to find all the 60 people who are in that little village that night somewhere but the whole place was empty. I don’t know what everyone did. Probably nothing. 

The second day was even longer. The scenery didn’t change at all, and while it was pretty, it was also pretty boring. I didn’t see anyone taking photos or looking at the view anymore. Luckily I was sitting by a lovely group of people so was entertained all the way. We ended up all sharing rooms to share the cost. The first night we stayed in the very fancy part of the town but we moved the next day to somewhere cheaper, but equally nice.

Luang Prabang… it is the nicest place I’ve been to in Asia. As Laos was a french colony, it is built in south of France style , if such thing exists. Cute little wooden houses, lovely bars and nice restaurants, a lively night market and a huge fruit shake and sandwich market. Yes, fruit shake and sandwich market. This must be the best thing about laos, or Luang Prabang. The sandwiches and the shakes. All for under a euro each. I haven’t eaten asian food since I’m here, and that is a good thing. 

it is a very developed city, I must say, but oh so charming! The first day we rented bicycles and rode around all day. Got a bit off road and found where all the locals live. In big beautiful houses amongst temples and monasteries. Yesterday we visited a waterfall. Now, there are many many waterfalls in the Lonely Planet, but I normally don’t bother with them much. They didn’t write anything special about this one either, but everyone seemed to be doing it, so we also went there. And this waterfall might have been one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in my life. It is so unreal, one wonders if it is manmade. I prefer to think it is not. There were so many levels, so many pools to swim in, the water was so blue and green, it was full of fish (Doctor Fish, mind you, they picked at your skin if you let them!), it was cold and fresh but amazing! We climbed to the top, we jumped in the pools, we swam around and sat on stones… In the evening we got really drunk and went bowling, and well, let’s just say that bowling is not my sport! it was the best day ever!

After 4 days, I think I am probably ready to leave Luang Prabang. We are going up north to check out a village before heading down south to the tubing (drinking on the river) capital of Vang Vieng. No more alcohol until then! 

Ps. I definitely got that traveling bug again, I enjoy every minute!