October 29, 2005

Trip to Laos

I am writing this from Vientiane where we arrived yesterday after a bone-breaking trip from Luang Prabang.

On October 25th we had a very nice flight from Bangkok to Luang Prabang ; we quicly set ourselves in Sayo Guest House which is quiet and near everything you want in Luang Prabang. Like others, we were aboslutely pleased by this town and this region, and two days and a half were probably not enough. We made the mandatory trip to see the sunset from Mount Phousi, and the Pak Ou and the waterfalls trips, and of course the wat visits. Tam and I enjoyed our stay a lot, as well as the food especilally in this restaurant on the Nam Khan bank (Khem Khan Restaurant if I remember well, anyway very easy to find).

Reaching Pak Ou caves near Luang Prabang
Reaching Pak Ou Caves
What I enjoyed still more was the incredible grace of the Luang Prabang girls and the absolute cuteness of the boys there ... If you go near the universities east of town at about 4 pm, this is the time when all ride their bikes back home, and this should be the most incredible concentration of cute boys in the world... and smiling too. More than this, they are very prone to chat with foreigners as they are naturally open-minded and anxious to improve their English or their French ..

As for going further with them ... better not think too much about it because it is illegal to have sex with a lao national if you are not married. This does not deter some boys to come in the only gay bar in town (Khop Chai Bar) where they obviously try to make contact.

boyfriend in Tat Sae waterfalls near Luang Prabang
Tat Sae waterfalls near Luang Prabang
The trip to Vientiane was much less nice .. I had bought two seats on the daily VIP bus for this long and hilly 9 hour trip, only to discover when arriving at the station that the VIP bus in question was full. The travel agency had merely NOT sent the reservations, although this seems to be the minimum service that you would await from a travel agency ... (Better to avoid this travel agent facing the Sayo GuestHouse...). So with 5 other infortunate farangs we had to go on another air-conditionned bus, and then to change for a crowded minibus, and after arriving at about the middle of the trip, had still to change again for a local bus full with lao people (not that I do not like them) ... and rice sacks.

I was very disappointed, Tam got angry and this spoilt the trip which could have been a great one because of the unique mountain landscape (especially from Luang Prabang to Vang Viang). And I do not tell about the sudden diarrhea I got because of the shackles in the local bus because this would be very nasty ...

We are now in Dragon Lodge in Vientiane where the staff is really cute and smiling but more interested at looking at football than making contact with foreigners (perhaps they would be if I were not already with a boy ?) Generally speaking the service in Laos is far from being perfect especially when you come from Thailand but they are always smiling and they always make their best when you ask something.

What is the program for to-night? Probably restaurant, disco and another beer in the Dragon Lodge lounge, perhaps there will not be football on TV to-day ?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

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