Laos

Doxycycline.. The mother of all evil.. kind of restricted my time in Laos a little bit, but by no means did it ruin it. We'd started taking these nasty little capsules a couple of days before arriving in Laos to protect us against malaria, and I've not felt as awful as I did in those first days in a long long time. Being ill in Laos was the first time since leaving the UK that I just wished I was at home. I haven't felt homesick or wanted to go home since being away but being so poorly I just needed my own bed with some home comforts. So taking a quick rewind back to the treacherous journey from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang. If it wasn't those anti malaria evil things that caused me to be ill, it might well have been the long, windy roads that led us to Laos. But either way it was a very close call when we finally arrived at our destination. There were a few different ways of getting to Laos and being conscious of our time left in Southeast Asia, we opted for the bus rather than the three-day slow boat. It would have been an amazing experience but we had just a month left to travel through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia so time was of the essence. It was roughly five hours in a hot and cramped minibus from Chiang Mai to the border of Thailand, Chiang Khong. On the way we stopped off near Chiang Rai to get a cheeky little glimpse of the Wat Rong Khun temple or The White Temple as it's more commonly known by tourists. After being in Asia for a while, I was personally feeling a bit 'templed out.' Anyone who has visited a never ending stream of temples will know this feeling. It's not that you don't appreciate their beauty, but well... You just get a bit bored of seeing temples in every single place you go. It may sound awful but once you've seen one, you've seen them all. The White Temple however was a different, more beautiful story. It is an unconventional Buddhist temple decorated in glittering mirrors, and reminded me of something the White Witch would live in from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. There's the inner child coming out again. Anyway it was beautiful and different from any other temple I'd been to, and it made a nice pitstop on our long journey. When we reached the border we could see Laos greeting us from across the river, literally a stone's throw away. We had to double check if it was actually Laos as it was so close we were a bit unsure. The locals confirmed it was indeed and we were very surprised at how the tiniest of rivers could separate two countries. We got a one minute boat across the water, got our visas sorted and headed for the next bus that would take us to our first stop in the country, Luang Prabang. After an overnight bus and twelve hours of treacherous twists, turns and broken sleep we finally made it out alive in the little town of Luang Prabang. We'd arrived at 8am and even though we'd booked a room, we were unable to check in until 11am. Exhausted and feeling grumpy and gradually more unwell I was not a happy bunny. All I wanted was a bed! You'll probably hear a lot in this blog that I was ill, sorry to harp on about it, but I was! It's all part of my experience in Laos. I don't know Laos in any other way, unfortunately. So because I was ill, when we were finally able to check into our room, I did not hesitate, got straight into bed and stayed there pretty much until the late afternoon

"Is that Laos?!" Laos just across the river..

. I won't go into too much detail but I had what you might call 'Delhi Belly,' which obviously does not allow you a great amount of time to get to a bathroom. I was on the top bunk of a bunk bed, and three floors away from the toilet. Safe to say there were times when it was a pretty close call, running down loads of flights of stairs in a state of desperate haste. I say no more.. The next day, feeling a little bit better we headed to the Kuang Si Waterfalls with a lovely couple we'd met at the hostel, Nic and Billy. They were fellow Brits, from Bristol and we immediately liked them as they were just such nice people and we got on really well with them. The waterfalls were absolutely amazing, with beautiful crystal clear water in a tranquil setting. There was a rope swing into the water, which of course I had to try even though I wasn't feeling 100%25, but I could not miss out on such an experience. Of course I then had to do it twice as Stef missed a vital photographic opportunity and I needed evidence! It was fun, but a little scary and the water, though beautiful, was freezing! That evening we went out for a couple of drinks with Nic and Billy to the only bar in Luang Prabang, Utopia. It was pretty cool in there, right next to the river. It closes really early and apparently everyone goes bowling afterwards but to be honest we weren't really feeling it, and decided to go home to bed. It seemed a shame to miss out on it but as ever I just felt so awful the only thing I could think about was sleep.

Rope swinging into the waterfall

The following day, surprise surprise I was ill and couldn't bear to leave the comfort of my bed.. I say comfort, it was actually the most uncomfortable bed I've ever slept in, but being as poorly as I was, it felt amazing. Stef went off exploring on her own whilst I tried to feel better and not pine for home. Although I didn't see too much of the town, Luang Prabang was very quaint and cute. The night market offered a new range of different goodies and the little restaurants had a quaint, old feeling to them. Loved it here, the mountainous scenery was beautiful and it did not feel too spoiled by tourism. It had a little character about it, as though it was hidden away in the mountains waiting for people to discover it. We braved the bus the next day to our next destination, Vang Vieng. We'd been looking forward to a certain aspect of Vang Vieng that is a traveller's rite of passage in Laos: Tubing. Basically you hire a tube and float down the river, stopping at numerous bars on the way to get drunk with fellow backpackers all looking for a good time. We'd heard it was lots of fun, but we'd also heard it was extremely dangerous. A few years ago there was as many as twenty deaths a month when they had lots more bars open and people were drunkenly swinging into treacherously shallow waters. Even recently after it had all been shut down and the number of bars decreased, we'd still heard about people hurting themselves, and to be honest it wasn't our scene. We would have liked to casually float along the river, chilling out, but to just get smashed for the sake of it wasn't really why we came to Laos. So in the end, we gave it a miss and got a hot air balloon ride at sunrise instead. It was a much better way of spending our money and the scenery was just indescribably beautiful. It was an amazing experience, so quiet and peaceful. The sun started peaking over the mountain tops and beautiful orange rays of light were exploding all of the horizon. The sky looked like a work of art, an explosion of colour. For me, a much more amazing experience than getting smashed on a river, but each to their own, I'm sure that was equally as fun! The town was very small and there wasn't a great deal to do. One thing we did notice was that in every bar/restaurant they were playing reruns of Friends. We spent our evenings chilling out in front of the comedy show, laughing as if we'd never seen it before, knowing we'd seen the episodes hundreds of times. It never gets old! After a couple of relaxed days in Vang Vieng, I was finally starting to feel better so we moved on to our next and final stop in Laos, Vientiane, the capital city. We weren't overly impressed with the city as felt there wasn't much to do and subsequently were a little disappointed. It did seem like a lovely place but we weren't overwhelmed by it. We did a little sight seeing tour organised by the hostel to visit yet more temples, the monument to get a good look at the city from above and the best part, the COPE Centre. The COPE Centre opened my eyes to the devastating things that went on (and are still ongoing) in Laos that I had no idea about. It's interesting to come to a new country and realise you know absolutely nothing about it. It makes you realise how sheltered we are back home and how little about the rest of the world we really know. The Centre is a non-profit organisation who help people obtain prosthetic limbs from the aid of charity and donations. During the time of the Vietnam war thousands of bombs were improperly dropped on the innocent country of Laos. Laos was a neutral country who had no desire to be involved in a war. Thousands of these bombs were dropped in the hills of the countryside, on crops and farmland, on innocent people's lives, all to cut off the supply line to Vietnam and so as not to travel back to the US with wasted bombs. 30%25 of these dropped bombs never detonated and the country was filled with thousands of unexploded bombs or UXO (unexploded ordnance). Lives, houses and families have been devastated even many years after the bombings stopped. Farmers would be tending their crops and accidentally stumble across UXO, resulting in devastating consequences. Children playing in the street would pick up a 'bombie' thinking it was a toy, again to lives being shattered. The locals would want to sell the scrap metal of the bombs as it earned them a lot of money, risking their lives every second they toyed with making a profit from the metal. Arms, legs, hands, feet, sight, hearing and ultimately lives have been lost due to the UXO in Laos. Farmers are still unable to use the land or harvest crops to this day for fear they will tread on yet more of the unexploded bombs. Professionals are still trying to safely dispose of the UXO all over the country and until they do, children and adults alike are in constant danger and fear for their lives. They struggle for food and money that the farmland would bring them if it was safe to do so. It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear and learn that these people rely on the land for survival but yet due to circumstances out of their control, they are unable to use the facilities so normally readily available to them. The amazing work that the COPE Centre do is provide a service for anyone who has suffered at the hands of a UXO. They can provide healthcare, support and prosthetic limbs to those so desperately in need. They do such amazing work and not for a profit. They can also help anyone who has been born with deformities and require the use of new limbs. Their work and the bombings in Laos really moved me. As I said before there are some things we just have no idea about and are never taught about at school. We are, in a way, shielded from goings on in other countries. It's sad because I feel we need to learn more about how others suffer. The people of Laos still suffer today, even though they had no real place in the war. Every day is a struggle for them and a risk to their lives. It upset me but it was so interesting to learn about and it made me see Laos in a new light. Not somewhere to go to get so smashed that I end up injuring myself, but a place of beauty, of sadness, of poverty. And it makes you realise just how lucky we are living in a country that isn't filled with unexploded bombs or relying on farmland that's intoxicated. It was very moving and eye opening and installed in me a need to learn even more about the war and the countries I was going to.

Laos was an absolutely beautiful place and the people were so amazingly friendly and warm. It makes me sad to think they are still suffering but they seem to be pulling through and getting on with it, appreciating life in any way that they can. So although I was ill for most of my time in Laos, it is still one of my favourite countries and I've learned a lot there. I didn't let being ill s

top me too much! I had an amazing time and took Laos in for what it was, a beautiful country with lots of hidden secrets and suffering.