Vientiane

We sometimes find that, as we get to the end of a long trip, we wind down - perhaps a bit too much. We found that a bit here in Vientiane. Whilst we still had about a month left of our time away, the next places were either with family or friends, or in the Middle East on the way back, so this felt like the last stop on our main trip.

It may be that our general disaffection with Laos made it worse this time, but we found ourselves feeling rather lacklustre. It is a shame, because of the four places we visited, the capital was probably potentially the most 'real' Laos experience - albeit of course a city one.

The lack of photos - I don't know what happened to the ones I took - doesn't mean we didn't do anything at all, but we only really pootled around, close to the centre. We had planned to take a bus out to the sculpture park, which looked fascinating, but lousy weather put paid to that, and certainly we did spend quite a bit of time dodging the rain here.

We wandered around a few temples, took a look at a monument or two and found a few shops to look in. We also visited the market, but that was a little disappointing, with predominantly lots of western clothes and phone cases.

Aside from that, we sheltered from the rain in a few nice cafes, and had some tasty evening meals at mostly western style restaurants; Pimenton was a decent steakhouse, and there was a perfectly acceptable Japanese place in the same street.

Overall, I suspect that Vientiane merits another visit sometime.

Lovely landscapes, though not much else, in Vang Vieng - but at least we didn't get shot at!

Vang Vieng

Our next destination in Laos was Vang Vieng. We were getting the normal bus this time, with only very slight trepidation after hearing about the one a few weeks ago that was shot at by bandits.

Apparently it was going along the same road we would be using, and they fired about 50 shots into the bus. Thankfully, the driver saved the day by being quick on the uptake, he swerved - which both moved him a little further away and made the passengers fall away from the windows - and got out of there as fast as he could.

Vang Vieng

I am pleased to say that our journey passed with no such excitement - just one poor woman who got terribly travel sick for a long part of the journey. It is apparently a route where locals are more prone to it, because of the winding roads as you pass through the mountainous karst region. It is beautiful scenery, if you're not feeling ill.

As is often the case around here, we weren't quite sure where we would be dropped off. Most information, and man at the bus station we got our tickets from, said it would be about 3km outside of town. When we got off, we weren't sure - and no one seemed to be able to tell us. A tuk tuk driver was very keen to tell us it was some distance away, and wanted to take us and the three girls we were chatting to, for what seemed like quite a lot of money.

Vang Vieng

Thankfully, the girls had an internet connection and were able to look up where we were on their phones. It turned out that the big carpark we were next to was in fact the old airstrip that runs behind both of our respective hotels. We were a five minute walk away. Needless to say, we didn't take the tuk tuk; sadly this was just another example of someone trying to take us for a ride - this time both literally and metaphorically!

Anyhow, Vang Vieng. We nearly didn't bother, as its reputation is the worst kind of backpacker hell. To appeal to the young backpackers that started coming to Laos, Vang Vieng set up the river for tubing (for anyone not familiar, that is going down the river on a large inflated tyre inner tube). They opened numerous pubs along the way, and very soon this was a drink and drug fuelled party town.

Vang Vieng

Not only is this very hedonistic behaviour contrary to the Buddhist way of life, and presumably quite galling to locals who have to get by on so little, it also resulted in numerous accidents, injuries, and indeed deaths.

So even though people were getting a nice little income from this, they did clamp down. You can still go tubing, and there are a couple of pubs you can stop off at, but you are no longer supposed to be allowed back on the water if you are drunk.

Vang Vieng

However, the town is very much a backpacker central, albeit that now the whole scene has calmed down considerably, and many people now spend their time exploring the scenery of the karst mountain area and the numerous caves to be found here.

There are still multiple bars, including one which constantly shows back to back episodes of Friends, and places where you can buy 'happy' drinks and pizzas. But alongside that, we saw posters asking tourists not be disrespectful by walking down the streets in their shorts and bikinis, and one piece of graffiti that was rather more direct and told tourists to go home.

Vang Vieng

I think if you are going to head off exploring, this is still a worthwhile place to visit, because the area is beautiful, but aside from that, there really isn't much here, and the place is still far too overrun with tourists to make it a place to come to really absorb the culture. It is a shame really, as this is really an awful example of tourists ripping the heart out of the places that the visit.

Mind you, some of the locals know how to party too. We were here during some music festival or other, which was taking place late into the evenings on the old airstrip, not nearly far enough away from our room. Not that we'd have minded had it been any good - we'd likely have been joining in - but most of it sounded truly awful.

You'd also find groups of local teens down by the river, with their huge sound systems in the back of their, often equally huge cars, booming out music. This blast of modernity was an interesting contrast to the very rickety looking bridge, which you can hear creaking when traffic passes over it.

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Phonsavanh - Plain of Jars

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Whilst Phonsavanh is certainly an interesting place, to find out about the terrible bombing that happened here and the great work of the QLA, it isn't really somewhere that you would visit just for itself.

However, in the surrounding countryside, alongside the bomb craters and UXOs, there is an archaeological site that is quite intriguing, and is the reason that most visitors come to this region.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

The Plain of Jars covers a huge expanse and is littered with around 2,500 large old stone jars. No-one is entirely sure how old they are - estimates range from 1,500 to 2,500 years old. And no-one is sure what they were put here for.

One theory, is that they were used to store alcohol for a huge feast  celebrate King Khun Chuang's victory over an unruly Chieftain, Chao Angka. Given that some of these jars are significantly taller than me, that would be a lot of alcohol!

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

A more widely held view, is that the jars were used to store dead bodies while they decomposed, before then cremating them. This theory is supported by the fact that human remains have been found in the areas, a man made cave on one site seems to have been used as a crematorium, and the white quartz stones are believed to be grave markers.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

There are numerous jar sites around the region, but most are not open to the public, largely due to the likelihood of getting blown up. The amount if bombing in this region means that there is a very high risk of UXOs.

Those sites that are open have been cleared, which is indicated by the white and red markers. the white markers show that the pathway has been fully cleared, while the red markers indicate that the ground level has been cleared, but there is no guarantee that there isn't something deeper. These areas are safe, but it is strongly recommended that you do not stray from these cleared zones - Laos is not a country where you should decide to explore the countryside.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

We took a driver/guide out to the see the jars. It is a bit more expensive than going on your own, or with a big group, but we liked the freedom of it just being us, and the information that the guide was able to give us. We decided to go to the three main jar sites nearby, and to fit in a couple of small extras.

After a stop off at the information centre, which does have some quite interesting background and explanations, we set off to see the jars. Writing this some time after going, I can't recall which of the three sites it was, but there was one where our driver had to negotiate a very muddy track, where people were in the process of using a digger and their vehicles to pull down trees to build a new temple.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

The jar sites are intriguing. They are not as visually impressive as somewhere like Easter Island's moai, but it is the kind of place that makes you think about both the people of the past, and how, whilst we have come to learn so much about our history, there are some things that we just can't be sure of.

And not being sure of this, does also make me question some of the accepted wisdom about other aspects of our past. After all, where there are no first hand pictorial or written accounts, much of it is just educated guesswork.

Making spoons, Ban Napia, Phonsavanh

As well as the jar sites, we dropped in at the village on Ban Napia, where the local people used to melt down old bombs to make spoons and other items.

These days they tend to bring in aluminium, but the process of melting it down and casting the items in handmade moulds, is still the same. We watched a lady making them in her garden, while her child and dog played nearby. We bought a couple of the spoons.

Making spoons, Ban Napia, Phonsavanh

Our other stop off was at a garden distillery. We were able to have a look around the shed, to see where the rice was being fermented, and to taste the end product or rice whisky, or as it is know here, lao-lao.

It was certainly strong stuff, but actually not as rough as we had expected it to be. We bought a litre for around 95 pence; we still had a bit left when we visited my sister and her partner - they weren't impressed!

One thing we did find very interesting here, was the opportunity to speak with a few local people about their country. We had noticed a significant number of big fancy cars and very large houses in the area, and had wondered who could afford these things. The general consensus was that these would either be corrupt officials taking bribes, or people who were smuggling goods across the borders and profiteering that way.

Jar site 2, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Certainly a consistent message that we heard, not just here, was that Laos is a very corrupt country, where individuals will often have to pay bribes to get permission to build, or run businesses. Another thing we heard often was a dislike of the amount of influence that the Vietnamese still had in the country. Of course, criticism of the ruling party or its policies is potentially a criminal offence in Laos, so anyone we spoke to would naturally be very careful to avoid doing so.

 

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

 

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 3, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Making lao-lao (rice whisky), Phonsavanh

Making lao-lao (rice whisky), Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Likely crematorium cave, Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Jar site 1, Plain of Jars, Phonsavanh

Phonsavanh - town and bombies

Craters Restaurant (with old bomb casings), Phonsavanh

Our next place in Laos was Phonsavanh, and having looked at the various options for getting there, we booked onto the VIP bus. This included a pick up from our hotel, to take us out to the bus station. It arrived eventually, but of course they don't send enough out to pick everyone up, so I was sat on the back rail for the journey. At least my legs were inside - the next people to be collected had to cling on the outside. And ours wasn't the most overcrowded one we saw arriving!

Once at the bus station, we saw plenty of buses with names on to various destinations, but none labelled as Phonsavanh. After some confusion, we were ushered over towards a couple of twelve seater mini buses. We waited for a good half an hour before they told us to get on, and then it took them another thirty minutes or so to lash the luggage to the top and cover it with tarpaulins.

Then we waited again, until they decided that, as neither of the two buses was full, they didn't want to take both, only one. So they made the people from the other one get into ours. Which was all well and good, except that there were more people than seats. They squished four people onto the three seats at the back - which would doubtless invalidate their travel insurance in the event of an accident - and two other people didn't get to travel at all.

Map of bombing missions over Lao, Phonsavanh

They then had to change around all of the luggage on top, so by the time we actually left, we were about an hour and a half late. Not what I would call VIP - or even just acceptable - service.

Now I wouldn't mind this kind of thing if we were travelling on the normal buses, but this was another of those cases where they charge you way more that the normal kind of 'costs plus profit' fares, and still are late, overcrowded, and as two of our would-be passengers found, not even guaranteed to travel despite booking a seat. This is the kind of thing that made me unhappy with Laos, in a way that I hadn't found in Myanmar, Thailand or Cambodia.

Anyhow, after the obligatory lengthy stop at a place where they wanted you to spend money on food and drink so that they get a kick back, we made it to Phonsavanh. Our hotel sent a car to collect us, even though it was only just down the road. Of course the idea of this being that then we will use that driver for any trips that we want to do. In fact we did use him, as his prices were no worse than anywhere else. But we'll talk about our trip out in the next post.

Cluster bombs, as dropped in Lao, Phonsavanh

Phonsavanh is a strange little place. This area was the worst hit by the US bombing campaign, with some 580,000 airstrikes, dropping around 1.9 million tonnes of bombs in the region. To put that into context, that is around two thirds of the amount dropped by the allied forces during the whole of WWII.

Even leaving aside the questionable practice of dropping bombs on a country that you are not supposed to be fighting, the really shocking thing is that, apparently, many of the bombs dropping here were completely unnecessary. It is widely reported that many were dropped simply because planned raids on Vietnam were called off, and the bomber crews just jettisoned their payloads here, rather than having to go through a more complex procedure on returning to base.

The original town, like so many around here, was destroyed, so this new town was built in the late 1970s. There is one main street, plus a market up by the old airstrip, and then the rest is largely just residential. The main street itself bears testimony to that terrible bombing campaign. Old bomb casings have been repurposed for practical use and as decorative features, and there are restaurants called Craters and Bombies, although we preferred to eat in Bamboozle.

You will also find the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) Office-UXO Visitor Information Centre and the UXO Survivor Information Centre. We went in to the latter, and found it a really worthwhile visit. It is run by the Quality of Life Association (QLA) which is a local not-for-profit organisation that offers support to people who have survived, or been bereaved, through UXOs (unexploded ordinance).

UXO Survivor Information Centre, Phonsavanh

It had its beginnings in the World Education Laos Group in 2009, but in 2011, a number of Laos nationals, including some who were themselves UXO survivors, obtained funding to set up this organisation, specifically aimed at having Laos people help victims.

They provide a range of assistance. They provide first aid training to local communities, so that they can provide good initial care, in what can sometimes be a number of days before the person can get to a hospital for full treatment. They help victims to obtain suitable prosthetics, and arrange transportation to get the person to the clinic - something that might otherwise prevent them receiving it. They provide psychosocial support, including peer group support, to help the individual through the psychological and social issues that they may face as a result of their injuries.

There is plenty of information about the bombing and those awful little round bombies that were dropped in the cluster bombs and now cause so many injuries and deaths every year. If you visit, do take the time to watch the film upstairs.

The countryside is still littered with the bombies, and accidents happen regularly. Many happen when people are farming their land, and hit one of them, often causing loss of feet and legs. Other victim are children, who pick them up like a ball, and play with them, often leading to the loss of hands, arms and maybe their sight. In the 19 years from 1996 to 2015, there were over 500 deaths from UXO in Laos, with about a quarter of those in this region. Over the same period, there were over twice as many people who survived but were injured, making it terribly difficult for them to farm and sustain themselves.

The items for sale in the shop are mostly made by the women who have lost husbands and sons to the bombies, and so have little other means of making a living for themselves. The QLA arranges for them to be trained in handicrafts, and to receive the materials needed, so that they can make these items for sale here. They receive a fair payment for the items sold, with the rest going to the work of the organisation to support the victims.

They do a lot of really good work here, and they do it on a very low income, so buying a few souvenirs, or making even a small donation, can go a long way to helping the victims.

Luang Prabang - Town, temples and a bit of a disappointment

Royal Palace Museum, Luang Prabang

From Chiang Rai, we took an overnight bus to Luang Prabang. The nice thing about the journey is that you arrive at the Thai/Laos border, in this case the International Border Control Friendship Bridge IV, fairly soon, so none of that nasty 'middle of the night border crossing' disruption.

On the subject of the border crossing, we got our visa on arrival, at a cost (at that time) of US$35 each.

Royal Palace Museum, Luang Prabang

That is for UK passport holders, but it does vary by country, (a) whether you can get a visa on arrival, and (b) how much it is, so do check first. Be aware that the fee has to be paid in cash in dollars; you might be able to pay in Thai Baht, but it will cost you significantly more, and if you are there any time other than 8am to 4pm on a normal (non-holiday) weekday, there will be an extra out-of-hours charge of US$1. There was also a 10,000 Laos Kip entry fee.

The not so nice thing about the journey, other than a distinct lack of sleep, was the time and place that we arrived in Luang Prabang. We got there at around 6am, but the bus didn't drop us in town, it dropped us at the main bus station, some distance out, just as it was starting to rain. The jumbos - the mini trucks that are the common form of transport here - soon arrived to take us in to town; we thought the price was far more expensive than seemed reasonable, but of course they rather have you over a barrel.

Wat Mai Souvannaphummaham, Luang Prabang

At least the hotel were had booked had a night duty guy on, who let us in to the reception area, where we could sit and have a hot drink while we waited for the day to start. We did consider that, as we were actually up before sunrise, we might take the opportunity to go along to see the famous gathering of alms by the local monks.

Wat Mai Souvannaphummaham, Luang Prabang

However, this was another one of those times where we feel that tourists are in danger of ruining a local tradition, as we have seen video of tourists getting in the way, interrupting, and generally being totally obnoxious. Obviously we would not have behaved that way, but we took the view that we didn't want to add to, or encourage, this being viewed as a sightseeing opportunity. So we gave it a miss.

Luckily the hotel had a room ready for us nice and early, so we were able to get a bit of sleep before heading out for the day.

Wat Mai Souvannaphummaham, Luang Prabang

Now, Laos is a country that I have been looking forward to visiting for a while, because it appealed as a place that might still be relatively unspoiled by large scale tourism. It is also somewhere that we have only ever heard positive things about - everyone who has been here seems to love it, and they often return.

But we didn't love it and I'll explain why in this and some of the other Laos posts to come. That doesn't mean we didn't enjoy any of it - there were some good aspects - but overall, we felt that Laos was the country where we most felt like we were being treated as a cash cow, to be ripped of if possible. It also felt like there was a real split between the local people and the tourists here, with we tourists being corralled into our own areas.

Luang Prabang

Here in Luang Prabang, the peninsula of the city, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, is effectively entirely given over to tourism, with locals living further inland. Aside from the temples, almost everything here was a hotel, tour group agent, souvenir shop or a western style restaurant or bar.

Now don't get me wrong, as an easy place to chill out, to take a break from any Asia overload, or to have a holiday somewhere in Asia without having to immerse yourself too much into the food and culture, it is probably perfect.

Night Market, Luang Prabang

And we enjoyed our time here as a relaxing break. But it really doesn't feel like you are engaging with the country. I suspect that you need to go to less well known areas, probably in the south of the country, to do that.

And then there are the prices. We were genuinely surprised at how much things cost here, be it tours, meals or souvenirs. Given the low price of groceries, and what we learned about wages in the country, there is absolutely no way that the prices we were being charged were anything other than extortionate.

Morning Market, Luang Prabang

I know that they have to import some many things, making base prices a little higher than Thailand, and I don't mind that they put prices a bit higher for tourists, but the amounts here felt unreasonable. Even worse, we got the distinct impression that those people working directly with tourists, and those that own the factories where the souvenirs are made, and various officials, all make a very nice profit, while those working for them or in the rest of the country, are left in poverty.

It also seems that most of the tours are not very ethical. The hill tribe tours sounded like they are of the 'human zoo' variety, and the elephant ones all seem to involve riding.

Garavek storytelling, Luang Prabang

So anyway, what about what we did like here. You can quite see why the whole of the old town here on the peninsula is a UNESCO site. It is full of lovely old buildings, from temples to French Colonial. You can very easily imagine the streets devoid of any kind of motorised vehicle, and you will still see the odd handcart being pushed now.

There were some nice places to eat and drink. The Coconut Garden was a reliable and reasonably priced place. If you want to spend a bit more L'Elephant is supposed to be good, though we didn't try it, the 3 Nagas was OK, and Blue Lagoon was excellent.

There were some good cafes - Saffron Coffee and Le Café Ban Wat Sene - which were also by far the best place to get wifi and aircon. Another café, Le Banneton, is known for its croissants.

Wat Sensoukaram, Luang Prabang

We also rather liked a nice little bar and tapas place called Opera House, which also had good wifi. There are other, livelier bars like Utopia, Hive etc, but we didn't bother with them.

Wat Sensoukaram, Luang Prabang

And bear in mind that Luang Prabang has a curfew; I can't remember the exact time, but it was about 11:30pm, and many of the smaller hotels do actually close their doors then, because the staff go to bed.

One evening here, we went along to Garavek, which is a little company that holds story telling shows, in a little room with about thirty seats. It isn't a totally authentic experience - realistically, nothing for tourists ever is - but it is enjoyable and sufficiently informative to be worthwhile. You can buy a drink there to take in with you if you want to.

But perhaps the most interesting thing that we did in town, was a couple of hours spent at Big Brother Mouse. BBM is part of an aim to get Lao people reading. Sasha, Khamla and Siphone have worked together to provide childrens' story books that are written in the Lao language and English, so that children can learn to read, learn English and learn enjoy reading. In addition, in Luang Prabang, they run two sessions a day where tourists come in to help local youths with their English. That can be reading to them, listening to them read, helping them with their homework, or even just having a conversation with them.

Wat Sensoukaram, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Mekong River, Luang Prabang

Mekong River, Luang Prabang

Mekong River, Luang Prabang