Hello all!
Sorry for the long break in blogs...its been a whirlwind of flying around for the last couple weeks!
When I last left you, we were on our way to Vietnam. We travelled by bus across the border, which for some reason I expected to be like the scary monster of borders, but turned out to be not so bad at all! We were the only "whities" (as we call ourselves) on the bus, but just went with the flow of people and it turned out just fine. We crossed the Mekong river by ferry which was quite neat, munching on fresh made waffles that Chantelle was persuaded to buy from the man outside our bus window in the ferry line up... he was right, they were delicious. I'm thinking about taking some business advice from the guy and hitching a portable grill set up onto my bike and selling fresh waffles car to car at the Victoria ferries... what do you think?
We arrived in Hoi Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, late in the day, tired and ready to freshen up and de-luggage ourselves. So, when this cute old taxi driver asked if we wanted to go somewhere, we jumped on it. When we tried to strike up a price, he explained that the taxis were metered so no need, he would get us there. We drove around for quite some time, Chantelle and I both consumed by the craziness of the streets and major traffic. After about 20 minutes, he insisted we stop at an ATM to take out local currency, and finally showed up at our guesthouse, shocked at the fare equivalent to about $25 bucks ("Wow, Vietnam must be really expensive in comparison to other parts of Asia" we blondly said to one another). Well, after ditching our bags and showering up, we left our guesthouse, rounded the corner and what do you know, there was the bus station we had been let off at. Less that 5 minute walk, meaning the little shit who had driven us took us for two dumb, white tourists with no idea what we were doing (which, given our lack of preparation, maybe wasn't that far off...), and drove us around in circles to make some money! I was irate!! Talk about feeling scammed. We agreed right then to ALWAYS have a plan of attack when stepping foot in a new city. After a few drinks to calm the nerves, we cafe hopped for the rest of the day, mesmerized by the thousands of motos (literally looked like a sea of mopeds and bikes) at every stop light and the zigging and zagging of city traffic. Although a lot more developed than Phenom Penh, it was equally as chaotic in its urban bustle.
We checked out the big market in the city, where we lasted all of 20 minutes. It was an INTENSE shopping experience. The stall keepers would actually latch on to you and try to pull you in to look at their goods... a whole new meaning to getting 'sucked in'. We did manage, however, to tune our bartering skills on these beautiful sandals we found, which the ladies were asking almost $25 dollars for (way overpriced). Begin to walk away and the price slowly drops and drops... until sure enough, we were halfway down the strip with the stall owners still tugging our arms, before they agreed to the asking price equivalent to $6 dollars... the birth of our nack for markets and mad good bartering.
The next morning we hopped on a bus to the beach, Mui Ne, about 5 hours outside of the city. Its a cute little place, nothing more than a strip of bungalows and gueshouses beach side and few restaurants and hotels lining the road. We stayed at what had to be the best deal in town, a SUPER cute little beach resort (maybe about 10 rooms), big balcony with a view of the ocean, for $6 dollars each a night! Although it was a glorious 4 day stay, there isn't a whole lot to say as we essentially soaked up every second of R&R we could! Found a shady spot on the beach with a few good books, banana shakes with rum, evenings on the balcony with a $2 dollar bottle of Vietnamese wine (I didn't even know they made wine in Vietnam). Mui Ne is also a Kiteboarding hot spot, so when the afternoon winds picked up, the sky would become a rainbow of colourful kites, all zipping around and doing crazy tricks... observing which was a favourite pastime of ours. We found a stellar little local restaurant, beachfront and known for its delicious local food, and ate there almost every day... by far the best food on the trip. Rice noodles with veggies and a heaping plate of spring rolls complimented by the ocean breeze and sound of crashing waves... all for less about $1.50... what more could one ask for!?! The icing on the cake for a great beach stint was our evening at the spa... $3 manicures and pedicures. Ummm hmmm. Can't get that at home!
Although it was hard to tear ourselves off the white sand, we began our adventure up to Laos on what they call a "sleeper bus"... sounds alright, eh? Little individual beds for each person, leaves in the middle of the night so you wake up refreshed and ready to go in your destination. RIGHT. Not so much. It was so unbelievably NOT like that, Chantelle and I spent the first 10 minutes of the ride outright laughing. First off, we drew the short straw and were the last pickup, so got sent to the back of the bus...huddled into a row of 5 'beds' shared with some Germans. Second, the window was broken next to us and the light didn't turn off (not optimal sleeping conditions). The worst, however, was that every time we went over a pothole or bump on the road (of which there are many) we went FLYING up and hit the ceiling of the bus... imagine you are finally dozing, just letting yourseld relax a bit.... and BOOM, launched into mid-air and WHAM, into the roof. Ouch. We arrived in Saigon at about 7am and beelined for the coziest coffee shop we saw to recuperate, which actually did the trick. It was sort of like the calm before the storm, as the remainder of the day was somewhat hectic...Flew from Saigon back to Phenom Penh in Cambodia (where we had to get a whole new visa just to proceed to check in and fly out again) and then from Phenom Penh to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos.
We arrived in Vientiane and were pleasantly surprised at how calm, clean and peaceful it was for a capital city, especially in contrast the the other cities we had seen. The people were marvelous, so friendly and helpful, far from the aggressive and harsh attitudes we had found in Vietnam. We spent one night in the city (rained into our cozy room, filled with quality girl time) and then flew up to Luang Prubang (in the northern part of Laos) the next morning.
Luang Prubang is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage City... and for a good reason. It is a real gem, and Lonely Planet is correct in saying it is arguably the most photogenic town in all of Southeast Asia. The streets are lined with old buildings, all with quaint storefront signs. Gorgeous Buddhist temples can be found every 50 meters, along with monks adorned in vibrant orange robes roaming the streets. Off the main strip are adorable little cobblestone alleyways dotted with family run guesthouses and cafes. We stayed a great little place run by the Rattana family, super accommodating and friendly people. The whole town is so freaking cute, it actually has a curfew.... which we found out our first night standing outside the locked gates of our guesthouse at 11pm, Chantelle ringing the doorbell and myself searching for a way to climb over the barbed wire gates...thank goodness the little man with the key arrived when he did, as I was seriously in the process of devising the least painful route up the fence.
As per usual, we did a good deal of cafe hopping, sipping cocktails with a good book in hand, yapping away to each other about life's big curiosities, people watching, and eating delicious Lao cuisine. We met a group of Spanish travellers with whom we enjoyed a few good laughs at the only 'late night' bar in town (ie past 11pm), which happened to be a bowling ally... hilarious combination of travellers, bowling and a cowboy bartender who made the stiffest drinks in the history of bar tending. Chantelle's Long Island Ice Teas were about 60% booze, which may explain how hilarious we found the bowling bar to be and also the pain and suffering we experienced the following morning....
Then there was the night market. Oh Luang Prubang Night Market, how I miss you so. Every night the main street of the town closes for local artisans to set up stalls of handicrafts, textiles (including gorgeous Lao silk), jewellery, handmade clothing... you name it. As Chantelle put it, the two of us alone fueled the local economy with the amount of time spent browsing and buying. One of the best parts however, was the food. We found a little vegetarian stall at the end of the market run by this little old woman who could cook. When you step up, she hands you a plate which you can heap as high as your tummy desires with noodles, stir fries, fruit, veggies, rice... all for a grand total of 50 cents. Yep that's right, half a dollar. Throw in a 700mL beer and a couple of spring rolls (bringing the total up to less than 2 bucks) and you are set. Strategically placing ourselves street side in the best people watching spot on the block, we spent oodles of time there every night soaking up the market bustle and stuffing ourselves with delicious food. Amazing.
We also took at Lao cooking class, for which we lucked out and turned out to be the only ones in the class! We went to the local market with our teacher, learned about the different fresh ingredients, and then came back to prepare our chosen dishes, which consisted of curry, spring rolls and stir fried morning glory... YUM. We spent the remainder of the day recovering from the gluttonous feeding frenzy the followed the class.
Although I could go on and on and on about Luang Prubang, I must begin to wrap this up. We absolutely fell in love with Laos and if I could go back to anywhere we've been, I think it would be the winner. Beautiful green scenery, peaceful & kind people, wonderful food, neat shopping, picturesque temples, charismatic monks... an all around winner in my books. Again, it was hard to leave the place as it was pretty much a perfect 4 days, but Thailand was calling. We flew out of Luang Prubang to Chaing Mai in northern Thailand, where I sit right now typing the ridiculously long babble, which I apologize for... there is just so much I want to say and remember!
I will leave it at that for now, as my book is calling and I feel some spring rolls coming on....
Write more soon.
Love a very happy traveller, Alex
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