Photo Trip Report: Laos by Boat, Bike, Buggy and Balloon

[buksida]

We wanted to get out on the lake so took a cruise across it for a barbecue lunch on one of these remote islands. We had the boat and the island to ourselves, the place is extremely peaceful with only the odd fishing boat motoring past now and then. This is one of the advantages of a country with a lower population than most major cities, less than 7 million.

The four of us truly felt spoilt as fresh tilapia was barbecued and I cracked open a cold one, like something out of the old colonial days sitting atop an island. The afternoon was spent on the terrace overlooking the lake as the sun burned a deep red through the haze as it dropped lower while the islet dwelling water buffalo headed in to rest for the evening. A truly magical place so will give it a plug: http://www.sanctuaryhotelsandresorts.co ... tel/about/

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To follow: Vang Vieng

[barrys]

Thanks for the pics - that looks like a beautiful place to visit!

[buksida]

A free hotel shuttle took us into Vang Vieng the next morning and I knew I’d miss the Sanctuary as soon as we hit tourist central an hour later. Our accommodation in Vang Vieng was a riverside resort called Simon. Again the permanent miasma partially obscured what would have otherwise been an epic view but the pool was extremely inviting.

We wandered into what seemed like a quiet village for lunch. The reason for this became apparent in the evening when the place came alive with hordes of Chinese tourists milling around like flocks of sheep, millennials belting about in dune buggies with Bluetooth speakers blearing the latest pop tunes, and bearded strung-out looking backpackers wandering about carrying big Beer Lao bottles with young girlfriends in tow wearing very little. A token walking street and night market offered t-shirts, shoes, sunnies and bags for a couple of bucks and rows of restaurants and bars that all appeared very similar lined the streets.

Back at the hotel the sun dipped and the view improved, especially when we first glimpsed the hot air balloon as it drifted over on the balmy evening breeze.

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More to follow ...

[Bamboo Grove]

Great colours.

[buksida]

The kids wanted to go tubing the next day and I secretly fancied the idea myself. For a very modest 50,000 kip (180 baht) per person the trip would take all afternoon to cover 5km or so of the picturesque Nam Song river valley north of the town. Floating down river was rather relaxing and the first stop was a bar where you got a free beer as part of the trip – there is no way this would happen in the Thailand of today, it would probably be banned for some supercilious reason or other.

After an hour of chilling out and competing with the young-uns on the rope swing at this serene little spot we flopped back into the tubes with a light beer buzz to resume the lazy float downstream. Vang Vieng used to be party central but following a couple of alcohol induced tubing fatalities the local authorities closed a lot of the raucous riverside bars in favour of a more serene experience on the river which is what you get today.

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[buksida]

The following day would be a little more adventurous. We’d hired a couple of 1000cc off-road buggies and headed west into the valleys where a number of lagoons and swimming holes could be found. The first one was the largest, and Chinese tour group favourite, so we left that in the dust and motored straight past heading deeper into the valley. The landscape out here was prehistoric; huge limestone karsts, buffalo wandering across dirt roads, dust covered kids waving from dilapidated tractors, ramshackle wooden villages, and barely cultivated fields full of pigs or chickens.

Our first stop, after giving the kids some impromptu driving lessons on trying to avoid going sideways round corners on gravel, was ‘blue lagoon 3’. This swimming hole also had a large cave to explore, if you had a decent flashlight, and a zip-line system which was also popular with the Chinese groups who could be heard whooping like gibbons shattering the peace or mindlessly playing with their phones oblivious of the surroundings.

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More to follow...

[migrant]

Very nice!

Was the water cold? Saw the wetsuit

[buksida]

The Chinese are a weird bunch, they'll wear life jackets driving buggies in the mountains - like Marty McFly walking into that sixties diner ...

[Lost]

That pic of the dingbat staring at its phone while being surrounded by some of nature's great beauty, epitomises the human race of today.

The next generation, today's 'me me me' teens, are gonna be even worse. Can't wait.

Awesome photos by the way Buksi.

[dtaai-maai]

That looks like great fun! How much were the buggies?

[buksida]

The Chinese and Koreans were the worst with the phones, they're obsessed with them, especially the girls, and would be constantly selfieing while oblivious to their surroundings. One girl on the balloon trip must have taken over a hundred pictures of herself ... social media has turned the younger generation into a narcissistic zombies - I'm glad I won't be around to see this lot run the world.

Buggies were $50 each to rent for the day. It was great fun!

[buksida]

The ‘road’ petered out at the furthest spot called ‘blue lagoon 5’ which was in fact a small pond that the locals had dammed to create a little oasis. What made it better was the fact that we were the only ones that had ventured this far so had the place to ourselves.

Back on the road, or off it, we motored on to a lunch spot at a small local eatery after giving these buggies the water treatment! Responsible parenting dictates that your children’s first go at driving should involve a river. The afternoon took us to ‘blue lagoon 2’ which was an impressive clear water lake with some big jumping platforms.

Each lagoon cost a paltry 10,000 kip (37 baht) to enter, totally opposite to the 400 baht that foreigners get fleeced for at many Thai natural attractions. Laos certainly is setup up for unadulterated fun, and they’re not greedy about it, unlike their neighbours. Returning to town covered in mud, dirt and road dust, we were thoroughly exhausted but had just experienced our best day of the trip so far.

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More to follow ...

[dtaai-maai]

What a fantastic trip you're having! Hope your lads appreciate how lucky they are. You'd have difficulty dragging me away from the buggy place...

Some questions. How are you travelling around the country? What are the distances involved? When you've got time, could you do a map showing your journey?
And finally, could you lend me £5k to fly my grandchildren to Laos and follow the same route?

[migrant]

What a fantastic trip you're having! Hope your lads appreciate how lucky they are. You'd have difficulty dragging me away from the buggy place...

Some questions. How are you travelling around the country? What are the distances involved? When you've got time, could you do a map showing your journey?
And finally, could you lend me £5k to fly my grandchildren to Laos and follow the same route?

Times 2!!

Actually will pick your brain when we are both back to follow where you've been

[buksida]

Some questions. How are you travelling around the country? What are the distances involved? When you've got time, could you do a map showing your journey?
And finally, could you lend me £5k to fly my grandchildren to Laos and follow the same route?

Sure, I'll add a map at the end. We flew into Vientiane, took a public minivan to Tha Heua (approx 130km, travel time 3 hours). The hotel gave us a free shuttle into Vang Vieng (approx 20km). We took another minivan from VV to Luang Prabang (approx 150km, travel time 4 hours). Buses took longer and did not travel some routes due to the terrain ... which also explains the long travel times - the roads are mostly not roads at all! Locally we got around on foot or by rented motorbikes.

I'm afraid the loan won't be forthcoming as I have to work for the next six months to pay off this trip!