Vientiane, Laos

Our Vietnamese visa ran out on January 8th, and after squeezing in the trips to Sapa and Halong Bay we didn't have time to reach the Laos border by land - so we hopped on a Lao Airlines 'Aerocopter' (a new word Hazel has made up!). It's a cross between a blender and a glider!

Here's Pete pulling the international sign for 'I'm an idiot, please take my photo!'

We'd heard that the rules for Thai visas had changed recently, meaning we'd need to make a trip to the Consulate to get a visa for the last stage of the trip. We turned up with only 1 passport photo each to accompany our applications, only to be told that 2 were needed, and that, sorry, there isn't a photo booth here. Some enterprising tuk-tuk drivers outside the Consulate offered their services as photographers - here's Hazel posing in front of a car door!

 

It all felt a wee bit amateur - especially when his camera battery ran out, which was after we'd spent 10 minutes haggling with him over the price. So we upgraded and went to a 'proper' photo shop. Whether it was the travelling catching up with us or the stress of dealing with annoying tuk-tuk drivers, this session provided us with the least flattering photos of us both we'd ever seen!

[No, this isn't Hazel in the process of exploding - just managed to catch his flash at the same time.]

We both felt, from the moment we got off the plane, that being in Laos/Vientiane was a real breath of (relaxing) fresh air in comparison to the relatively hectic pace of life in Vietnam. There's also an abundance of old-school Beetles around the place. Very classy!

 

 

 

 

Later in the day Hazel got accosted by a Chihuahua, which took a very keen interest in her ankle!

 

 

 

 

 

We finished up the day with one of the tastiest and most memorable meals of the trip - a Chinese restaurant whose speciality was Nam Neung

 

 

 

By Saturday, with our Visa exploits out the way, we were ready to see some of the sights of the Capital. After some fruit shakes at the breakfast cafe opposite our guesthouse we hired some bikes and set off.

 

 

 

 

 

Just up the road we passed the 'Patuxai' - modelled on the Arc de Triomphe. Made a few years back with concrete that was supposed to make a runway at the airport, they just couldn't resist it!

From a distance it looks pretty nice; up close is another matter. :-(

At the top of the hill we finally arrived at 'That Luang', which is probably the most well-known sight in Vientiane - and probably the most important National monument for Laos people.

 

Here's Hazel working on her 'Diana pose':

 

 

 

 

 

Pete jumped in for the couple shot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like many places in Laos, we often found people had laid bits of sticky rice all over the place (you can see the white spots in the photo here). We never got to the bottom of why, but I guess it means you never have to go hungry if really desperate!

 

 

 

 

Later in the afternoon we took our bikes down to Wat Sok Pa Luang, which had a lovely woodland setting

We'd read in our guidebook that on Saturday afternoons between 2 and 4, tourists can join in with the meditation sessions led by the monks, so we thought we'd give it a go. We arrived a bit late to find they'd already started, to see a scene somewhat reminiscent of a zombie movie - people walking around v e r r r r r r y   s l o o o o o o o o o w w w w l y... Thinking we would probably start giggling if we joined in at this point, we figured we'd leave them to it.

In the adjacent building we could see (and hear) some chanting going on. One thing we've realised about Bhuddists is that they love repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition...

The next day was market day, so we hired the bikes again (only 80p a day!) and set off. Here's a shot of your typical T-Shirts-for-Tourists stand, all of which are 'same same but different'.

Just round the corner we stopped to see why a small crowd had formed. You may be able to make out the cat watching warily from the left:

We went back to Wat Sok Pa Luang again, because on its grounds it also has a herbal sauna and massage - all for the grand sum of $3 - and situated in a beautiful tree house as well! The challenge was to find yourself a seat through the steam without falling over one of the twenty other people already sat in there!

Monday came around, meaning we could pick up our Thai visas from the consulate.

Access granted! Phew, no more visas to worry about now!! :-)

 

 

 

We stopped by at a lovely local art gallery, showing some works by Marc Leguay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also went back to the '???' as it was closed last time we were here. Hazel (again) was at her 'Diana pose', this time with her knees pointing to the right, in a ladylike fashion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catalogue man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, Vientiane is a very chilled place to spend your time!

Namaste!

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Halong Bay

Straight after returning to Hanoi from our Sapa trip, we got immediately onto another tour - to Halong Bay. 3 Hours from Hanoi, Halong City itself is a bit of a dump, and the port is teeming with dozens of boats and hundreds of tourists. Luckily we got straight onto our boat, and set straight off into the bay, which is so huge we immediately got away from the crowds.

 

As you can see we were pretty well wrapped up as it was cool and overcast - not the best weather for viewing the limestone Karsts that we'd hoped for.

 

 

 

The boat itself was lovely - a recently restored/updated junk, which was well fitted out, and perfect for our overnight stay in the bay.

 

 

 

Although the sails were just for show, they still looked great!

   

 

 

An unexpected part of our tour was the afternoon visit to the cave ('hmmm... cold, dark and wet, probably' we thought to ourselves). We were astonished when we actually got inside to see it:

 

 

 

 

[Errr... Hazel - Halloween was back on October 31st. Please take your mask off now!]

We thought it was reminiscent of the set from a sci-fi film - all crazy colours lit up the cave wonderfully. Haze thought this part of the cave was like being under a giant mushroom:

Whereas this reminded her of something else entirely:

Yes, those are people in the bottom-left of the picture below, just to give you an idea of the scale!

 

 

 

 

Just amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the view from the mouth of the cave, overlooking some of the boats that gather outside:

The sun came out just before sunset, as we went out in kayaks.

On our return, we were treated to a splendid sunset:

 

After dinner, we (the tourists) were cajoled into doing karaoke - putting us both well out of our comfort zone!

You realise, it was all for the benefit of the little girl in the middle here -  nothing to do with the booze that was on offer!

 

 

 

Watching night fall from the window of our room was very peaceful.

 

 

 

Goodnight!

 

 

 

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Sapa - Day 2

We awoke after having the most refreshing night's sleep for a long time - our oversupply of blankets really helped here!

We said goodbye to our homestay family, but not before our parting group photo (we figured they probably do this every single morning, but they still managed to have such lovely smiles):

The weather on the second day of our  trek got better and better as the day went on.

We got much better photos of the valley today:

However, because this is the middle of the dry season, the rice paddies were not quite as green and lush as you sometimes see them:

 

 

 

Here's Hazel at the top end of a waterfall looking like she's about to break into a Country & Western number...

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we'd got to the bottom of the waterfall, the Sun was well and truly out:

No matter where you are in the world, as soon as the Sun appears people start to wash their clothes:

...and their cars (or motorbikes, in this case!):

Our guide took us to meet the village chief of the Red Dao tribe as we passed through - here she is on her doorstep:

And this is her granddaughter in the kitchen - check the size of the pots!

 

Further on in the village we met these two characters:

The likeness is uncanny! ;-)

While stopping for lunch, we met some more ladies from the Black Hmong - another opportunity to buy wares!

 

 

 

 

Cooooo-eeeeee!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon we got back to Sapa town

We were grateful at this point for a hot shower and change of clothes.

 

 

We went out to explore the town, checking out the sights, sounds,  shops, and of course the colourful people.

 

 

 

Some of the wall hangings in a shop (we bought the blue one, top-left):

And some of the clothing on offer:

 

Here's some of the men-folk trying to look busy (playing cards!) while being left holding the baby:

This was a funny moment. Hazel tried to escape the woman's sales pitch by running across the square. As you can see, this was little deterrent, as the lady took up the chase:

 

The following day was market day, and we loved spending our time there, before getting the night train back to Hanoi.

 

 

We love how this shot mixes traditional, tribal identity with the 21st Century... But we did wonder whether the helmet would fit over her headdress!

 

 

 

 

 

Haze bought a little hat from this lady below, and then modelled it - to the amusement of all and sundry!

We didn't often see men getting involved in family activities (in Vietnam, at least), so it was nice to see this family just passing the time together on the steps of the church:

All in all, Sapa was a wonderful experience: great scenery, and a journey into a completely different way of life.

Namaste!

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