Si Pan Don (4000 islands), Ban Lung, Phnom Phen, Siem Reap and Bangkok

A long bus ride and a very wobbly boat ride later we arrived at a place called Si Pan Don or 4000 islands in southern Laos. We stayed on an island called Don Det in a hut on stilts (literally a hut!) over looking the Mekong with 2 hammocks, a bed and a mosquito net (what more do you need?) We went tubing again - a more sedate affair this time - they drove us up river in a tiny boat 'til we were (apparently) 3km away and then told us to jump out of the boat into the river. I'm not sure if you can imagine the Mekong but by this point it's already travelled from China and through lots of countries that don't seem too worried about river hygiene... The water was brown and moving very sluggishly, but by that point we didn't have much choice, Mark, a guy in the hut next door called Simon and I all jumped out into our tractor tyre inner tubes and away we went. We could see out huts from where they dropped us off but it still took an hour or so drifting back. All was going swimmingly until we got separated, Mark and I drifted to the other side of the island and almost made it ashore when we spotted a rather large snake swimming in our direction - luckily it got pulled away by the current but it was a little scary! We spent the rest of our time there swinging in hammocks, reading and sipping the local tipple of Laos Lao (home brewed whisky) lemon juice and honey which worked wonders on my stuffy cold.



Next we were off to Ban Lung after crossing into Cambodia. We were told the road there was really bad (pot holes and dirt track) but it didn't seem too bad - maybe it's worse in the wet season. Ban Lung is a small but sprawled 'town' on an unsealed red dirt road, it's completely out of the tourist trail but so worth the trip. We hired a motorbike and with Mark driving (and only falling off the bike a couple of times..."pot holes" apparently :P) and a hand drawn map, set off to see three of the many waterfalls around the area. The first one we could only look at from a distance, another which went into a huge plunge pool with a big cavern underneath and the last which dropped 40 foot straight onto rocks - this was where Mark lost the motorbike key which fell over the falls while he was leaning over the edge. 'Oh SH*T" was pretty much all we were thinking... Out in the middle of no where with no one around except the ticket guy who clearly didn't speak any English and only had a cow for transport. After about 15/20 minutes of manic searching down river Mark changed into his swimming shorts and went climbing through the falls. Incredibly he found the key wedged between two rocks - he is possibly THE luckiest, fluky **** I have ever known!




Once we'd regained our composure and calmed down we went to a volcanic crater which is now a huge circular pool, the water was really warm (and not at all eggy smelling which I thought it would have to be to keep the water warm?) It was crystal blue and sooo good to swim in and wash off the red dust that had completely covered us on the ride. We both looked like we'd had a bad fake tan with orange eyebrows and stripy legs!





Next it was on to Phnom Phen which is a little hectic and crazy - similar to the road in Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam but dirtier. We woke up early and went out to the killing fields where there are hundreds of mass graves, a memorial site and S21, an old high school that was turned into a torture camp during Pol Pot's reign, some pretty moving and disturbing sights. After that we were planning on going to the local museum but I fell down a crack in the pavement and twisted my ankle badly so we ended up having to go back to the hotel where all the tuk tuk drivers kept telling me they'd drive me to hospital to buy crutches. Haha. No.



We then got the bus out to Siem Reap in north-west Cambodia and spent two days exploring the Angkor temples. My favourite was definitely Ta Phrom which hasn't been restored and is completely overgrown with towering trees that are the only thing holding the buildings together. We went to the most well known temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom but they're incredibly overrun with tourists and tour groups. We both agreed that the quieter temples in the more secluded areas were definitely worth the effort to get there to escape the crowds.




After an uneventful crossing into Thailand we've spent the last couple of days in Bangkok, which definitely lives up to it's seedy reputation! ("ping pong show?"). We're catching the train down to Phuket this evening to go and find the perfect beach and diving/snorkeling sites just in time for Mark's birthday and Christmas day... 30 degrees on a beach :D

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR EVERYONE! x

Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang and back again.

After a good nights sleep we woke up bleary eyed to explore Vientiane. Its a lot more laid back than Vietnam, especially for the capital. Although there isn't a great deal to do here. We spent a couple of days wandering round looking at the sights such as Patouxay, which was supposed to resemble the Arc de Triomphe. It was never completed so is really just a big concrete block, known locally as 'The Vertical Runway' as it used concrete donated by America for the completion of the airport.

We caught the bus up to Vang Vieng, it's only 150km away, but the journey took about 6 hours due to some pretty bad roads. Vang Vieng is definately a backpacker town, every building is either a guesthouse, restaurant, shop or internet cafe. There are even restaurants that have TV's with all the tables facing them, showing Friends or Family Guy on repeat. The main reason for coming here is to go tubing, a rather dangerous activity that involves giving you a tractor tire inner tube and throwing you in the river 4km upstream of the town and leaving you to float back. Bars have been set up along the first section with huge rope swings, zip lines and slides that propel you at various speeds into the river. They also try and force shots of Lao-lao on you, a type of locally brewed whisky, to make things that little bit more entertaining. After the bars is a long stretch of river where you float past the karst mountains while the sun sets. Unfortunatly no-one warns you that this part takes around 2 hours, so nearly everyone arrives back after the 6pm curfew and loses part of their deposit. Getting out back at the town is quite a scary experience in the dark as the river is shallow and rocky. Local children have got a scam where they help you get out, then charge you 20,000kip (about 1.60). All this resulted in Nikki losing a flip flop! We went again a couple of days later, making sure to get back in time and before it got dark!

After a few days of lazing around watching Friends and floating down the river we headed up to Luang Prabang. This has been our favourite place so far. The town is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site and consists of lots of shady streets and old colonial buildings. Every night there is a night market set up selling local handcrafted goods. Out of the town there are also some great excursions. We took a trip out to Kuang Si waterfall, a huge waterfall that makes it's way down the hill via a series of pools that are designated for swimming, if a little chilly!


A couple of days later we went on a half day elephant trip, we were taken out to the Elephant XL camp by jeep early in the morning, then transfered to the camp by a traditional skinny boat that felt like it might capsize at any minute. As soon as we reached the camp we saw elephants, it's amazing how prehistoric they look close up. Once we were given a crash course in how to drive an elephant and the first group had returned we clambered aboard, unfortunately due to some confusiong on the boarding platform Nikki and I ended up on separate elephants but still had a great time. One lucky person was able to ride on the neck or 'mahoot' while two more people ride on a sort of park bench on the elephant's back. We set off for trek through jungle and river then arrived back at the camp about an hour later and were able to feed our elephants bananas or sugar cane which they gladly accepted. We were then transported down to the Tad Sae waterfalls, not as high as the Kuang Si waterfall, but just as impressive, with a lot more swimming areas and clear blue water. There was another elephant camp set up here and they regularly came tramping through the bottom pool where we were swimming. After an hour of playing at the falls we were taken back to the reception area for lunch, we were having such a good time we enquired about lengthening our stay to 2 days, which would involve another ride in the afternoon, staying at the camp and then bathing with the elephants the next day, but they were fully booked, so we returned to the town.


We had such a good time we returned to Tad Sae waterfall the following day for more frolicking and fun in the water. While we were there I saw some elephants emerging from the bushes behind Nikki, we thought it was just another trek, but we noticed they had no passengers apart from their mahoots and seemed to be heading right for us. We clambered out onto the waterfall ledge and it turned out it was bathing time and the place we had been swimming happened to be the deepest area. They came right up to us and let us stroke their heads and play with their trunks while they submerged themselves and used the waterfall as a shower. One of these was the biggest elephant we'd seen so far, and there was a couple of bulls which we hadn't seen yet as Elephant XL only used females. It was such an amazing experience, made better due to it being so unexpected. We were on a real high for the rest of the day and were gutted to be heading south and leaving Luang Prabang the next day.

Once again it was an early start for the 9 hour bus ride back to Vientiane but we had some pretty good seats and got settled in. Once we set off we realised the seats in front of us were not bolted down properly so kept swinging back and squishing Nikki. We stopped and had lunch at a roadside cafe then shortly after boarding the bus, we broke down. It turns out the bus had run out of petrol, luckily a passing truck stopped and spared some. We dropped some people off in Vang Vieng then carried on, getting a little worried that the driver hadn't stopped to refil the petrol tank. It seemed it was his goal to make it to Vientiane on air alone, meaning we broke down every 20 minutes! We eventually arrived 3.5 hours after scheduled. Because of the lateness of our arrival and the troubles in Bangkok it was nigh on impossible to get a room.

We've been waiting here for a couple of days as it is National Day today and we wanted to see what it was all about, but it seems it's just like a bank holiday. We hired bikes a couple of days ago and rode out to That Luang, a huge golden stupa with an attached temple. We're hoping to catch a bus down to Pakse in the next couple of days, where we'll cross the border into Cambodia.



Vientiane & Vang Vieng: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87254&l=adbe9&id=720640428
Luang Prabang: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87982&l=c5149&id=720640428
Elephants: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87992&l=418f6&id=720640428