Laos

From Chiang Mai Ludo and I made our way to one of the lesser (at present) visited countries in South East Asia. The road to the border wielded little other than the 'White Temple' which is just nuts looking. It has sculptures of Predator's torso surrounding it as well as a pool at the front with arms and hands reaching out from the surface. Its definitely spectacular. The inside also is decorated with one continuous mural containing images of characters from all walks of life. Put it this way, Michael Jackson is there, Messi, Michael Jordan, Superman, Batman, Han Solo, Freddy Kruger, Snow White, but to name a few. In fact it almost has the feel of a Disney project as opposed to a temple. One night spent in a hotel in a border town to have our visa's processed and then it was onto the great Mekong in the morning. Its a breeze getting around Asia really. Everything is catered towards tourists and whilst I had some scepticism with this border crossing and the one into Cambodia later where my passport was taken for a few hours both times, there is really no hassle at all in moving around the countries and then from one to the next. Not for me there wasn't anyway. It almost takes away some of the feeling of being a backpacker how easy it all is.

So, onto the great river that is the Mekong flowing all the way from Tibet down to Vietnam before pouring out into the sea. Ludo and I had chosen to take the two day slow boat down the river to Luang Prabang. The route, it appears, is a very popular one amongst the backpacking crowd. We shared a table with an American girl Kali and the chat flowed freely whilst we played cards and sank a few beers that we had bought beforehand. It wasn't the clearest of days unfortunately but even with the mist coming down the mountains, the views were still amazing. Untouched jungle hugging the sides of the mountains that rose up on both sides of the river for as far as you could see in each direction. That first day we came alongside a boat that had apparently broken down. This meant that much to the serious frustration of a lot of people onboard our boat, we would take the other boats passengers the remainder of the way until the first stop. I didn't mind at all as we were at our own table and so the filling up of our boat with first plastic chairs then other passengers didn't affect me at all. Plus the boat wasn't realistically going to sink despite the noises being made by some. Apparently this is a scam run by the companies to save money on petrol and happens quite frequently. Who knows? I wasn't fussed like I say.

The next day the boat was back down to its normal capacity and the weather was gorgeous. We also had some locals on board with a gigantic speaker and a few large tins of local brew. This meant one thing. Boat party and it was great. Entertained by our Laos companions it was a great trip the rest of the way to Luang Prabang with dancing, drinking and confused toasts between ourselves and the locals.

Luang Prabang itself is a very pleasant little town. With Laos being a former French protectorate the main area of the town is styled in French architecture and the guesthouses in particular are all beautiful little buildings that have been preserved and refurbished to maintain that French feel to them. The town has night markets with some very nice looking handicrafts as well as a selection of good eateries and outdoor dining that takes up an entire street. Here you are able to pay pennies to have as much noodles and salad as you wish and then for a few more pennies you can purchase the meat of your choice and a beer to drink it all down. That was great and along with this it must be noted that the sandwiches in Laos are also very good. It was here that we met Luciano and as a quartet we were to spend the next 4 weeks together exploring this little gem of a country as well as Cambodia.

Luang Prabang, of course, has its fair share of temples and you can also visit elephant sanctuary's in the nearby area but the main attraction and in my opinion the cannot miss attraction near the town is the Kuang Si waterfalls. If renting scooters for the day and taking them through some stunning countryside wasn't enough, you then get the chance to visit a bear sanctuary en route. The sanctuary has black bears and the slightly larger sun bear and they are both cool to see especially the ones who could sense that it was close to feeding time and were dancing with anticipation in front of the food hut. If all this wasn't enough for you then the falls themselves will leave you speechless, breathless and taken away. I would describe them more but I dont feel that I have the ability or capacity to do them justice. I dont even think that the photograph's I have of the falls do them justice. Imagine taking the prettiest waterfalls from the Lion King and Pocahontas, adding some of Tinkerbell's fairy dust and then you might just about come close. I know thats a lot of Disney references but thats what it feels like when you are there, magic. There's even a rope swing thrown in for good measure, in case a gorgeous waterfall wasn't your thing. That was a great day, not only for seeing the falls and all that came before but because we stumbled upon a University bulls (bocce) game which was intense. We ventured inside and were welcomed to watch, drink the free beer, eat the free food and enjoy the experience. I have never, I don't think, seen kids so excited by any game and so happy to be involved in playing. There were tactics discussed, whoops and jeers, high fives and consolatory hugs and all round jubilation for the winner. One of my favourite days to date. Also if you end up in Luang Prabang, check out the late night bowling alley. Its a laugh.

From here I managed to convince the other three to join me in an adventure to Vang Vieng (it didnt take much to be honest, I merely had to suggest it actually). The bus there was long and uncomfortable and I believe that our driver had a death wish as he very nearly ended up in the back of two other mininvans. Aside from this the road looked like a great one to drive particularly if you had a motorbike and in between my hangover induced naps, the scenary that we were passing through was incredible. Jagged and rugged mountains surrounded us as we weaved inbetween then. Untouched apart from a mountain top settlement where we stopped for snacks and I managed to get a kickabout with a 5 year old and his little sister. Think its fair to say I've still got the skills. Vang Vieng for those who don't know (cant be many out there) is the spot where each year at least 6 backpackers will lose their lives whilst coasting down the river in a tractor tire, being pulled in on a string to the numerous bars that line the banks and being filled with an assortment of booze and drug filled cocktails before diving back into dangerously shallow water. At least this is what it used to be like. The people of Vang Vieng were upset at the image the town was getting and so the number of bars along the riverbank has fallen from around 14 to only 3. It is still a lot of fun to do though and the remaining bars still provide for a boozy, game filled afternoon coupled with the relaxing float down the river. The second bar in particular provides the perfect spot to party, I didn't even make it to bar number three nor did most other people.

As well as being a great place to meet people and party and it really is, the area surrounding Vang Vieng is stunning. We rented scooters once again and headed off in search of the blue lagoon. After finding the lagoon whose waters were similar in colour to those of the waterfall in Luang Prabang we ventured into one of the nearby caves which was spectacular. The chamber inside was fantastic and the sun's rays which penetrated through an opening in the roof made everything look magnificent. Ludo, Luciano and I went in deeper and as well as being greeted by a large spider which put the fear of God in Luciano, we uncovered rocks which sparkled in the light of our torches like they were covered in gold dust.

Sticking to the Mekong and the south of Laos via a quick stopover in the capital Vientiane and the 4,000 islands awaited us. This was a great location to end our short time in the country. Near the Cambodian border the Mekong widens into a huge body of water large enough to accomodate all of these islands, some of which are clearly big enough for small communities to inhabit them. It is the perfect place to relax in a hammock and watch the stunningly gorgeous sunsets over the river. There are rapids and waterfalls to see and a very small beach to swim at but otherwise all there is for it, is to chill out and that was exactly what I was looking for. River dolphins also inhabit the area and there are guided tours to go in search of them but these are expensive for Laos and the chances of spotting one are not guaranteed. Would be cool if you did though.

What a great place Laos is and still relatively undeveloped in comparison to its neighbours. I don't think this will last long judging by the amount of backpackers that we kept bumping into along the river. Also with investment coming in from the likes of China, Japan and South Korea, this will soon be a go to place for a lot of people.