Laos - Easter 2007, Luang Prabang III and Mekong

As part of our trip, we knew we wanted to experience the Mekong. It might not seem like a big deal to some, but I am afraid that if the Chinese get their way and are allowed to blast through all the rapids that block heavy weight freight transports down the river, the sense of being in the middle of history you get from this river will disappear. We set out for a half day trip to see the Buddha caves, not so much for the caves, more for the river.

We did the trip by slow boat, as the travel itself was the entire point for us. We saw some tourists blasting by in speed boats, and I must say I understand why those things kill people. Hit one piece of floating debris, and you're done for. Along the way, we stopped in a village where they produced Laos whiskey. Erlend got to taste this later the same evening while I was enjoying a facial, and apparently it was something along the line of the Chinese rice liqour.

The Buddha caves were not very interesting, if you've seen similar shrines in China you've seem them done better. The main cave was pitch dark, but Erlend's teeth led the way :D It was possible to rent torches outside, but I don't think we missed too much. This was, by the way, the only place in Laos where I had a feeling of being amongst tourists. You don't mind the solitary backpacker you come across every once in a while, but here they were everywhere. Going back down to the boat from the caves, the steps were lined with kids selling tiny birds in cages. The animal lover in me cried, but you can't buy them even to set them free, as that only encourages the practice.

Returning to Luang Prabang was much faster than getting to the caves, as we were now travelling down river. We got a last chance to absorb a little dose of life on the Mekong, kids washing clothes along the banks, people fishing from land and from boat, and men throwing out nets in the shallows.

Getting on a boat was easy, the city is packed with tour operators offering trips like these. You would, however, probably get a cheaper deal if you just venture down to the river bank where the slow boats are lined up and talk directly to one of the drivers.

Upon returning from the river, we had dinner and watched some more of the water festivities while having a couple of drinks in the main street. We then checked out of our hotel, caught a tuk-tuk, got splashed to the bone one last time, and were on our way to the airport. The same evening we flew to Vientiane, the capitol of Laos, where we stayed one night in a hotel close to the airport before we returned to China the next morning, Vientiane - Kunming - Beijing.

r trip to Laos was rather short, as we only had a limited number of days to spend due to Erlends work schedule. We only got to see the northern parts, and I would still like to see the rest of the country, with Luang Prabang as the starting point. Laos Airlines are supposed to initiate direct routes between Kunming and Luang Prabang this fall, which means it will be quicker to get there. Hopefully, we will be able to use the city as a starting point for our next Asian adventure - Cambodia :)

When we planned this trip, one of the problems we had was that few sites really gave the answers we were looking for on specifics, like transfer times, bus schedules, distances etc. Neither does this blog, to be honest, but if you have any questions you would like to ask us, please feel free to e-mail me on arduinna@hotmail.com.