Going to China tomoz

Hi all, its our last night in Laos tonight, as we are off to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in China, early sunday morning. We changed our flights having looked at the calendar and realising we’re a bit behind on our plans. We’ve got a good feel for Laos people and way of life in a short time. Vientiane is kind of a strange place, it has a similar feel to Palmerston North, but the people, food, temples and such more than make up for the Palmyness. There’s lots of photos and vid from the festival in LPB a few nights ago, but internet is not so easy or fast here in Laos. Hopefully we can get a guesthouse with wireless in Kunming so we can do some catchup posts. There’s some great pics and video of the event which really was stunning. Kunming is going to be a culture shock after the laidback and relaxed pace in Laos, but apparently although a huge city with a huge population, it is a fairly nice place to checkout.

Catch you guys in China tomorrow !

Last dinner in Laos

Decided to order some classic Laos food tonight being our last night in the country. So we had spicy papaya salad, the laos version of Tom Yum soup (i forget the laos name for it), barbecued chicken, and sticky rice. The chicken could well have been the tastiest i’ve ever consumed. juicy, suculunt, cooked over burning coals, by the taste marinated with some lemongrass and other tasty ingredients. The whole thing was great and a great final dinner here. Restaurant was in the open air alongside the Mekong, the kitchen out in the open and all very makeshift – classic SE Asia style.

We had desert at another place. Profiteroles and icecream, Crepes with wild honey and cashews. We’re spoiling ourselves here. And a final Beer Laos before we go in the morning. Luckily its pretty easy on the budget.

The bizzarchitecture of Xieng Khuan

This morning we changed guesthouse, to one that’s less than half the price – about 13$US per night. After which we went and changed our flight tickets. I also had the tailoring from Vietnam adjusted slightly at a tailor here in Vientiene, then after a bit of a rest we took a tuk tuk about an hour out of Vientiane to a site known as Xieng Khuan. The feature(s) here is a whole array of exceedingly bizzare buddhist and hindu concrete sculptures. Not sure what sort of time period it was built within, but the big buddha lying on his side was finished in the 50s. So we’re not talking ancient or anything – just very interesting for the bizzareness.   Pictures will tell this one far better than my words, so see what you think.

Stay tuned for the media.

Friday ride around Vientiane

On Friday we took a 45min ride around Vientiane on a tuk tuk to get bearings and catch quick glimpses of sites. Very flat city. Middle of town has a long very wide stretch of road seemingly inspired by the champs elyesse complete with large Arc de triumph at the end. Though there one has 4 arches, and is covered in Laos bas relief detailing.

Media to follow when we get some quickenough internet.

Thursday bus ride

Thursday we took a bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vientianne – 400km. Took 10.5 hours, but was comfortable airconned and nice views all the way.

LPB – wednesday night – Festival

Pix and vids to come from the Rains Retreat buddhist festival of light in Luang Prabang. Interweb and computers too slow, and wireless too pricey here.

LPB – wednesday day – waterfall

pix and vids to come