Asia/Europe Travels 2008: Kuala Lumpur Thailand Laos Vietnam Germany Austria Prague (Czech Republic)
Poland Vilnius (Lithuania) Riga (Latvia) Berlin London (UK) Amsterdam (Holland) Dublin (Ireland) Hamburg

Laos

Thurs 4th – The Gibbon Experience

We set off with our guide on the Gibbon Experience adventure winding up the hillside in a small trooper jeep. We had a banana leaf roll for lunch and then started our long 9 hour trek towards our first tree top villa. In the dry season, the vehicle would make it all the way to the starting village and take about 6 hours off the walk, but unfortunately it being the wet season, we had to hike this long section as the roads were awash with mud making the track only passable by bike and foot. I really enjoyed the walk there however as the views were simply breathtaking. The road meandered up into the hills overlooking small farms, and the dense Laos jungle. We chatted to our guide a bit who seemed interested in what we were doing back home and he explained some of the local traditions and customs in Laos which was quite fascinating. At one point we passed through a small village and the kids came out to wave. There was even a pig half buried in the middle of the road.

We made it to the village by mid afternoon and Francis who was charging ahead accidentally came across an entire group of naked bathing girls from the village. He promptly turned around and rested back at the hut and waited for the rest of us to catch up. They were just finishing however so soon after another bottle of water and some quick snacking we jumped back into hiking mode ready to cross the stream, which required removing boots and wading knee deep across a fast flowing torrent of fresh water.

It was kind of nice to bathe our stiff legs in the cool mountain stream, but it was certainly no comforting task putting our dirty socks and boots back on afterwards, not to mention having to flick off the leeches which had clung onto us - well I made it leech free this time, however was soon to have my share. The village is the point at which you get dropped off in the dry season which I must say would have been nice, although the walk up and over the mountain pass is stunning. You can buy water, nibbles (and even beer I think) from the little shop too, which is nice to know before hand (We all carted massive amounts of water from the car).

The next section of track was supposed to take 45minutes in the dry season, but with pools of water and squelchy mud we were slowed to a crawl. 2 and a half hours later we made it to the kitchen where they prepared our food for the night. Exhausted we pushed on with the promise of zipping and the nights dinner. About 20 meters from the kitchen we found our fist zip and we clipped on and enjoyed the breezy zip up into the first tree house. What a thrill, perched dozens of meters above the forest floor looking out across the tops of the rainforest canopy.

We found the gas bottle was out, so no hot water, which meant we had to settle for good food that night. We were also praying for some Beer Laos to be somewhere in the tree house but when we mentioned the thought to our guide, he laughed as if to say don’t you think if we had beer laos we wouldn’t have drank it ourselves. Our guides disappeared and left us to our own devices, which was both awesome and a little daunting at the same time. It quickly got dark and so we made the most of the remaining light polishing off most of the delicious food prepared for us. We then sat around the table and chatted, smoked and were merry for the rest of the evening recounting travel stories, and the day's accomplishment, and how awesome the tree house was.

At one point in the evening we were joined by a visitor. Now I think the best description of our visitor would be that it was a giant flying rat. This thing was huge and made the floor shudder as it landed. There were hysterics as it flew around the hut looking for light and at one point it landed and I managed to take a snap shot of it. It was like a fly, only about 2 inches longer and I later found out that it was a large 2 inch long Cicada. It only stayed a short while to everyone's relief and we returned to our previous relaxed state of mind. One thing was for sure, you definitely didn't get the feeling you were alone in this place as the jungle sounded like a symphony... but playing one of those modern atonal pieces.

Here is a video of the longest zipline we went on which was 340m and stretched over an entire valley.

Friday 5th – Laos – gibbon

The following morning we awoke to the sound of Gibbons and rain. They were so loud it was insane, and they sounded like some sort of party streamer that makes a sort of high pitched up and down noise. I would have been keen to zip out and check out the Gibbons if it was not for the rain, as they tend to usually be around at 6.30am in the morning for an hour or so, and this was the main tree house where they have been spotted in the past. All so exhausted however, we just slept in, not to mention how difficult the hike would have been through the rain and mud. The rest of the crew slowly emerged from their less than adequate mozzie nets to chill out in the crisp morning air overlooking perhaps the most stunning balcony view I have ever seen from a bedroom window.

When Francis emerged we heard about their rat invasion during the night and witnessed the large hole in his bag right above his now absent crispy snacks. This rat invasion was planned and calculated with precise accuracy over the location of the food. Impressive but annoying for Francis the now holy bag owner. By the description of the floor shuddering, these were also no ordinary rats, but large goat sized ones who could eat a small child. So yeah basically big rats.

We packed up our gear and headed off on trek - day 2 which thankfully was a lot shorter with an expected 2-3 hours of hiking. We actually really enjoyed today's hike as each stretch was interspersed with zipping across the jungle. Some of the zips were truly amazing the longest stretching 340m about 50 m in some points above the valley floor. I could have spent all day zipping around as it was really good fun. It all seemed pretty safe, although it was possible to catch a finger in the moving roller. Everyone seemed to be in good spirit by the time we reached our second tree house after the much more manageable walk.

After another great lunch everyone got out the cards, everyone except me that is, as I got a solid couple of hours nap in. It rained again as well making the planned afternoon of zipping difficult and of course everyone felt somewhat drained. We were all dreading the longest hike yet the following day. Tonight we set up our bedding in the light which made the end result much more effective. Kristy and I had the double bed private room to ourselves as well which was nice.







I have never slept in a tree before, so this was certainly a first and to have such an amazing view was pretty special. We were told by previous trekkers that there lived a poisonous green snake in the second tree house spotted the night before which had us worried, although we never saw him much to the delight of several group members.

Saturday 6th Laos – Gibbon

And then it began, the long arduous trek back to the land cruiser. The first 4 hours were our toughest yet as we ducked low lying overhead branches sloshing through ankle deep mud. Everyone got leaches on them and everyone felt miserable especially when it rained. We almost lost Soerca into the river as well but she was saved luckily by one of the few stable lengths of cane on the side bank. Most of the sticks and branches that you grab however seem to just fall away which caused several falls into the mud during the journey. We made it to the village though and it stopped raining which was nice to say the least. It felt like we had been through enough but kept a brave face thinking of the 6 hour mountainous trek to come. At least it was on an easy road, well that’s what we thought. Expecting lunch we realized that there was perhaps no lunch planned for the day and we would have to wait until the end of the trek. The keen walkers powered ahead leaving the other half of the group with the other guide, who later we found out just stayed at the village abandoning the tail end of the group. It rained again after about an hour and I think everyone felt at their lowest when all the mud started sticking to our shoes adding a few kg’s to each foot. It just seemed to keep adding on until you were literally carrying a high heeled version of your boot in mud. It was really hard to remove as well and you sort of had to find pools of water to dissolve it.

Despite all this we made it back exhausted and were welcomed with a cold beer and a nice dinner. The driver had waited some time and decided to play drinking games with his mates before driving us back. We all chilled and were joined by the common glory of having survived the ordeal without any major injuries or mishaps. We felt lucky however and doubted that similar tours could be run in the same way without serious injuries occurring in the future. We were to later find out that our trip was the last of the wet season and that they had closed the track until it had improved which was definitely a good thing, especially as the guides were clearly over the experience. We jumped in the car and exhausted watched as our drunk driver swerved the road at night back to our little town. He even brought his two drinking buddies and they all continued to drink on the journey back. At one point they had to stop to drain the lizard so to speak and so got out and stood on the white line in the middle of the road and went for it. I think somehow any other time we would have been slightly terrified but we had all been through so much it just seemed impossible that we would die that night. It just wouldn’t be fair. I think our scariest moment was when our driver attempted to overtake a road train on the inside lane around a bend, however the road train pulled back in moments before thankfully. They don’t really seem to pay too much attention to sides of the road either, just driving in the middle most of the time.

Anyway we made it and checked into our hotel for an hour long shower. I scrubbed our boots with an old tooth brush and we threw out all our ruined clothes. We then had a celebratory “we survived the Gibbon ordeal” drinks and were merry well into the night in our hotel room. I think we all decided that some of the parts of the Gibbon Experience will remain some of the most amazing experiences of our lives, but at the same time we were all completely out of our comfort zones, and the tour is in desperate need of an overhaul. The dry season would be a doddle however so if anyone is thinking of going then, don’t worry, it would be a piece of cake in comparison.

Sunday 7th – slow boat Luang Prabang

Leaving our hotel sleepy eyed, we made it to the wharf where the boat left, and managed to get some reasonable seating. In the tuk tuk on the way down I met a man who knew my dad which was a rare coincidence. The 6 hour boat trip was quite stunning as we passed large mountain ranges and small tribes along the river. Every time the boat stopped to pick someone up, all the kids in the village would run out to wave to the boat. It must seem so surreal to them restricted to their local world seeing all these white people clicking away on black boxes. I wonder if they understood? Well they seemed happy enough to be waving as everyone on the boat waved back. I felt like a beer, having been deprived for three days, and this soon turned into about 4 of the quite tasty beer lao bottles. The boat ride was just one big grin after that, as we drifted down feeling quite happy. I think we even managed to get some sleep along the way and I tried to learn my little guitar gizmo from Thailand. We read a bit about the town we were to arrive in - Pak Beng, and didn't really come to a consensus about which accommodation to chose, which was perhaps a bad idea.

The thing about Pak Beng, is it seems to exist because of the two day boat trip. Its mini economy thrives on the one boat stop every day and every man and his dog is out trying to squeeze every last cent out of you. I hated this place, the moment the boat stopped, a man grabbed my large bag off the boat and proceeded to carry it up the steps despite me saying I was fine. But he didn't stop, so I said please can I have my bag back, he kept going until I had to physically pull the bag off his shoulders. I waited for Kristy to catch up even though I was already surrounded by people asking if I had accommodation for the night. When Kristy caught up the confusion started. Basically there were two girls selling places and the man was pointing at one of them. I assumed at first that he was the boat hand, but now I thought he was helping the hotel staff. Although he grabbed my bag quite rudely I did feel as though his intention to help was genuine and why not go with his hotel of choice. But then this girl kept hassling and saying our room is bigger and better. The other girl was quieter and we decided we really didn't care, we just wanted a room for the sleep. So we picked the cheaper room.

As soon as we had done this the man who carried my bag asked for money for carrying my bag. I said I didn't want him to carry my bag, and a small dispute fired up. Eventually I looked in my wallet to shut him up, but only had large notes so said stubbornly no. He then followed us through town hassling us for money - quite a lot in fact. Eventually at the doorstep of the hotel we had to turn round and almost aggressively (thanks Kristy!) say you are not getting any money now leave us alone and he went. At the hotel, the room was small but fine for what we wanted, and it had a mozzie net and fan, so we were set. We heard of other stories similar to the one above, it really isn't a nice place.

I was a bit stressed about the whole incident, wondering if he would be waiting at the boat with a police officer the next morning. Corruption in this country is everywhere, and really you don't have a legal leg to stand on when it comes to allegations, and often travelers are forced to pay large bribes and move along. Was the hassle really worth the $3 he was asking? Not really, but then I thought about it for a minute. If every time this man succeeded in his requested fare, then he would be making a small fortune in this town, when the honest kind hard working locals get a pittance.

Later on in the journey we heard the exact same story, except it was an older couple who got conned and they were charged about $10 - more than accommodation for the night. So I like to think we had a moral victory that day. Lesson learned, don't let anyone touch your bag. Ever! Personally I would rather carry my own anyway, it gives a greater sense of the whole "traveling out your backpack" feel, and hey I am a young fit strapping lad, I don't want some weedy 5 foot guy struggling with my lack of packing sense up flights of poorly designed stairs.

Ok so that is a mini travel story I guess, but more a warning to travelers who go on the 2 day cruise - which is most people traveling in that region - it is almost impossible to avoid the two day boat trip if traveling north to south, or vice versa. It also is nice to note that some places you go are just damn right awful, especially the really touristy places, but I also saw some of the most amazing places of our journey in Laos, so it is by no means a reflection of the country, just that town, the unavoidable bottle neck for tourists.

Monday 8th – slow boat Luang Prabang

So it was time for day two of the slow boat from Pak Beng to Luang Prabang. Today I just slept and watched the mountains go by, the steady engine hum broken occasionally by the sound of a speed boat going past. I might point out that you can do the two day boat trip in one day on a speed boat, however they are very dangerous and a little pricey. Especially in the wet season when there is a lot of debris floating down the river, it is significantly more risky to take the trip this way and many travel guides discourage the speed boats as a result.

The scenery seemed to be a little nicer on this second leg so the 6 hours went by very quickly. When we arrived at our destination, we jumped in a tuk tuk and found ourselves shortly after at the Spicy Lao backpackers which as luck would have it, was very similar to the spicy Thai... homely, friendly and cheap. We met a few faces, and Pong - the guy who runs it, and quickly found ourselves going out with a large group for dinner and drinks. I tried the water buffalo which was very much like beef but a bit tougher. Nice though. And of course a round of beer lao's and cocktails was in order. In need of an early night we went home to get some sleep and the others all went out bowling till the wee hours of the morning. Laos has a curfew at about 10.30pm, and the more touristy pubs stay open a naughty hour longer till... wait for it, 11.30pm. Now in the city Luang Prabang, there is one place that stays open until about 2am in the morning and that place is not a night club, but of course a bowling alley. It is quite bizarre seeing this place become a hive of activity at around midnight with rowdy tourists trying to wean themselves off late nights drinking. But not tonight, we'll save it for tomorrow.

Tuesday 9th – Spicy Lao – Waterfall and bowling

With washing to wash, and emails so send and the other errands that stack up on a tightly scheduled holiday we decided to just take a short afternoon tour to the waterfalls, and I am glad we did. They were awesome. Warm water, ledges you can jump off and the most amazing jungle surrounding the water hole like utopia. We were only given an hour and a half but I could have spent a day there photographing, swimming and walking. I also had a mango shake off one of the little stalls, which looked appealing until I saw the jug of brown water she poured into the blender. As it was pointed out to me however, it is probably relatively fresh being up in the mountains (don't drink the water from the Mekong river however) and we probably gulped down some of it when swimming anyway. It tasted good though and probably came with free immune system booster as a result.

That night we went out as a group to one of the local restaurants to try some more local cuisine. Pong had had an interesting thought, and that was to get everyone to wear a set of bright yellow fisherman's pants. I must say it was quite a brilliant idea and we certainly got some looks waltzing through town in costume. I tried the laos barbeque which was awesome fun. You basically cook your own meal on the hot coal dome cooker which is inserted into the middle of the table. It was really nice to also meet some other travelers and hear their stories. Afterwards we were off to bowling to avoid conforming to the town curfew. I didn't think you could fit 12 people in a tuk tuk, but tonight I was shown the light. Legs dangling off the end, I sat squished into a small army of spicy lao crew destined for the famous bowling alley.

Bowling was a heap of fun, and although I was terrible in the first round, after a few trusty laos beers I was in the zone and ended up with about 150 or something, which is quite a decent score! The night got a little messy but it was so much fun, and great to be drinking up in a large group. We eventually headed home though squashed again into our trusty little tuk tuk which seemed like it was struggling a little at times. (It had extra beers to carry now). I will mark this down as one of my favorite nights of the trip, and would ideally love to go back to Luang Prabang for a few weeks and really explore what is probably the most peaceful city in the world.

Wednesday 10th – Fly to Hanoi

Well we had to say goodbye to our friends at Spicy Lao, although I found myself making a pledge to return there in the near future for longer. So chilled out and so much to do. Our flight was destined for Hanoi, Vietnam. We were finally going to reach our original holiday destination. I was starting to feel quite ill at this stage and eager to get to our hotel room. The flight was bizarre - Lao Airways, their slogan "your safe with us" instilling quite the opposite feeling as we took off on the shaky propeller driven plane. On the seat in front was printed the words "Use cushion as floatation device" and there was no safety lecture. Just the way engineers like things, efficient! But we were offered free beer on the flight plus some little fruity lollies made from local fruit produce which tasted amazing which was impressive for a low cost carrier flight. Next we were off to Vietnam.