My Return to Northern Laos

Journey: Pakse-Vientiane (12 hrs), VT - Viang Vieng (3 hrs), VV - Luang Prabang (8hrs), LP - Luang Nam Tha (8hrs), LNT - Muen Sing (3 hrs), MS - LNT - Boten/China border (6hrs) Total time for this journey: Approx 18 days.

I am currently in Li Jian Southwest China, which is approx. 30 hours away from Laos and relatively close to the Tibetan border.

We have covered quite a bit of land over the past month, bus after bus and tuk tuk after Song tao, we managed to see a lot of Northern Laos and make our way to China. This blog however, is to update you on the remainder of our time in Laos.

We left Pakse in southern Laos, sadly, and ventured north on the overnight bus to Vientiane, the capitol city of Laos. Our mission was to extend our visas, which is aparently a difficult task during Laos New Year when the government offices stay closed for days, weeks even past the actual holiday. So we decided to hop the first bus to Vang Vieng.

For those of you who haven't been to Laos, Vang Vieng is a beautiful haven wedged between limestone cliffs, on the Nam Lik river (which connects with the Mekong.) The last time I was there I found it incredibly inspirational and longed to return. This time we stayed at the organic farm which is 3km outside of town. The owners of the farm help the community in various ways and they appreciate the help of volunteers to keep the various activies running. They have built a school where they teach English to the children and adults in the nearby village, every evening. I attended the class a few times and was blown away by the friendliness of the locals and their passionate desire to learn English. We also worked on the garden and participated in a few activities to support the locals, ie. learning cross stitch embroidering. Sasha and I haven't stopped since we left the farm, making all sorts of cool stuff. Yes, I am officially a grandmother...

We had an awesome time at the farm with great people from around the world. Some days were spent tubing down the river, while enjoying the unique menus in town, special pizzas and such. And nights were spent playing mafia, and insane card games causing us to acting like monkeys, dancing rediculously with each win, while simultaneously managing to finish off more beer than my whole trip combined... with the help of an Aussie ;)

I wish I could stop to tell you the various stories that happen along the way but it's so hard to find the balance between what I think to be funny and exciting and those stories which you had to be there for. I guess I'll have to save those for when we see eachother once again.

After ten days we said a sad farewell to the farm and hopped an 8 hr bus to Luang Prabang. I can't say that I have much to report from here as we really just spent our time pigging out on great food (thank GOD for the french influence... cheeeese mmmmmmmm) and shopping at the market. We were too lazy, or too full of food to motivate ourselves to see anything, although I'd already been there so it was alright with me.

We then had about a week to see Northern Laos. The main attraction here is trekking in the tribal villages and enjoying the country side. Due to the weather we weren't able to do much of either. We did however find a great place named Adima which was only 10 kms from the China border and within walking distance to local villages. We walked to two or three in one day and witnessed the tribes in their natural setting. The children were very friendly, one was very anxious to show off his mud tobogganning skills, sliding down on his bare tooshie... We seemed to attract the attention of half of one of the villages while playing a detuned guitar and singing along with the locals. My sad attempt at brown eye girl was a big hit :) It was great to have the opportunity to see all of this with our own eyes and without the assistance of a tour guide. It created a great experience and it was a nice way to end off Laos.

Despite my clinging to Laos, and my desire to return to the farm to vedge out for another month, I hopped a bus with Sasha to the China border. We were sad to leave and honestly extremely culture shocked the second we crossed the border. It's amazing how two countries that share a border can be so incredibly different. When I write next, I'll fill you in on China and my plans for the summer, perhaps back to Taiwan, or Canada even??

Wishing you all well. Thank you for reading about my adventures and following my progress through my travels. Your input, comments, and questions are always appreciated.

Love and peace,

Kusuma aka Tiffany xo