What a full week we have had! We left Malaysia on a night train bound for Bangkok, a distance of 1000 kms. It took nearly 23 hours with endless stops!!! We were comfortable in our class 2 a/c coach and the tedium was relieved by watching our fellow travellers especially a group of young Malay men, soon know as 'the sarong boys'. The Malaysian stations were all brand new and like ghost towns so they are obviously gearing up for more trains and passengers. We were just a few months or even years too early, I think. There was plenty of sellers at each station once we crossed into Thailand.
We had 36 hours to spend in Bangkok before taking another night train to Vientiane, Laos (only 11 hours). Last visited Bangkok 28 years ago on our honeymoon so was interested to see how it had changes. It all seemed much more organised with far less chaos on the roads. The tuk- tuks were all very colourful and new and crossing the road made a lot easier with traffic lights. Decided not to visit any specific sights as will be going back in February while waiting for our 2nd Indian visas. So walked around all the main areas past the main wats, the Royal Palace...... We were a little confused by all the flowers, candles, black and white banners and throngs of people until we were told it was the national day of mourning/ celebration for a very old, venerable monk. This was nothing to what awaited us at the Democracy Memorial. There were hundreds of people wearing yellow bandanas, who were pro government demonstrators wanting to bring back the ex-Prime Minister, Shinawatra (who also owned Man City). We knew that this was a strong likelihood from reading the news reports. All seemed fairly peaceful on Saturday but the following day as we were heading to another part of town, we saw hundreds of orange bandanas heading to the memorial. We asked our tuk-tuk driver to do a U turn which was a good decision as we then saw masses of riot police arriving on the streets!!! Took a 2 hour backwater longboat trip on the klongs from Banglamphu to escape the mounting drama. Then to the train station avoiding the trouble areas for our train to Nong Khai on Thai/Laos border. All very uneventful as in 2 berth 1st class compartment so no sarong boys to provide the entertainment.. However, 50kms before the border, we were all put on coaches as the previous Bangkok express had derailed !!!! Glad we weren't on that one. Crossing into Laos is fun. We were dropped at Nong Khai station, had to take a tuk-tuk driven by a burly woman and dropped at the Friendship Bridge over the Mekong. Completed Thai immigration, hopped on a local bus across the bridge and then got our Laos visas.
What a beautiful country Laos is with stunning forest covered hills down to the banks of the mighty Mekong. In both Vientiane (the capital) and Luang Prabang (the ancient royal capital), we stayed in old French villas right next to the river -fantastic at sunset. Vientiane is a lovely small city with a riverside esplanade (paid for by S Korea) where everyone walks, cycles and sits in the evening. We also came across a large group of locals doing night time aerobics (very1980s Mr Motivator). There was French architecture, restaurants, bars, wine shops, bakeries with good coffee and croissants, great handicraft shops and galleries, a riverside night market, colourful tuk-tuks, street food and wats and monks galore.We spent a morning with a guide, Lee visiting the main sights - the temples of Wat Si Saket (lots of Buddhas seated around the cloisters) Haw Pha Kaew, Patuxai based on the Arc de Triomphe, and the Pha That Luang. This is a large national monument and the most sacred of Buddist sites in Laos. They were gearing up for the biggest annual festival when we visited so there were lots of monks staying in the complex. We also visited Cope which is a charity dealing with the victims of unexplored cluster bombs in the countryside. There were 580,000 US bombing missions to Laos during the Vietnam War and 30% of those bombs didn't detonate!!! It was very moving to read the stories and shocking to see the very primitive prosthetics.
Next day, we flew 30 mins to Luang Prabang, a wonderful place to visit. Smaller and more isolated than Vientiane yet it has an air of sophistication and is laid back which is rare in SE Asia. According to the World Bank stats, Laos is one of the poorest countries of the world but the people in these 2 cities seem to have simple but good lives. We saw no-one living on the streets, few beggars, the traffic is easy to negotiate and people seem happy and friendly. They worry about their encroaching neighbours especially China and the changes that could occur. Most people are BuddhistA but it is all fairly low key. A very poignant ceremony happens every morning at dawn when the bright orange robed novice monks walk single file down the Main Street and locals offer them their food for the day. Quite a sight!!! I must say that l have become a monk stalker as l roam the streets to photograph them. We visited several of the 45wats including 2across the river with a very knowledgable guide, Vong who was a monk from the age of 15 for 6 years. We climbed Phiu Su and took a river trip to visit caves full of Buddhas statues.
We spent our last morning helping local students practising their English. Imagine my regret, when l was allocated 2 boys and then in walked 2 monks !!! It was a good experience as my boys were both from hill tribes and wanted to be English teachers.
Can't urge you all enough to visit this wonderful country which is difficult and expensive to reach but cheap once you are there. However, did smile at constant use of labels 'boutique' and 'heritage' in the guest houses. Do hope change doesn't happen to quickly. There is talk of a high speed rail link with China. It is a communist country which appears to be eagerly embracing democracy and commerce.
Now in Hanoi ready to further explore Vietnam. Love to all x