Lazy Laos

After an extremely lazy stint in Southern Laos, we write from Ubon Ratchitani, a large city in NE Thailand. We've been in some remote places, hence the lack of blogging, but are catching up now. Unfortunately, all the photos on this post and from now on will be from Colin's camera, as Amanda's was stolen in Pakse, which wasn't our favorite of places. We will be home soon, and are looking forward to seeing everyone. We'll be making our way to the South of Thailand to get some beach time in before having to go back to the real world. Till then. . .


Rice sausage. And 7 Eleven. We must be back in Thailand!
Yet another waterfall in the Bolevan for your viewing pleasure.
This sunset was particularly relaxing after driving for 150km in the Bolaven. The area that we stayed in was very remote and beautiful, with jungle covered hills all around the rice fields in the valleys.
Amanda zipping down a dirt road on the Bolaven. We rented a motorbike for three days from Pakse, the provincal capital, and drove about 350km around the highlands here. This is where the majority of Laos' coffee comes from, which is in turn where most of the coffee in SE Asia originates.
Amanda fashioned an umbrella out of a leaf to hide from the spray of a waterfall on the Bolaven Plateau. There were many waterfalls in this area, but this one was particularly breathtaking, with a huge drop into a churning pool below. We climbed down to the water's edge and scrambled through a cave there, where we could see a perfectly circular rainbow.
A local girl leads a water buffalo from his wallowing grounds in the Mekong. The point that they are heading from is supposedly a favorite haunt of Irriwaddy Dolphins, which are extremely endangered. We tried our luck at getting a peak, but instead spent about 40 minutes gazing at Cambodia in the distance.
Li Phi falls on Don Khon in 4,000 Islands. This massive waterfall was lined with fishing weirs at every rapid that the locals use to gather up tons of fish. This waterfall and many others around Si Phan Don were also an important historical factor in the region. The French couldn't get their ships past them to get at the many resources in Laos. To get around this, the French did build a short railway line in Don Khon (the only tracks they ever laid in Laos), which is now defunct.
Fabled Si Phan Don, or 4,000 islands, set in the widest stretch of the Mekong which spans 14KM at this point. The community here is still reliant on fishing, although tourism is booming and has been prevelant for many years. Rickety bungalows line the river front for bargian prices (we paid $1.90/night) although many of them aren't that stable. Ours was lofted about 25 feet over the water and shook when you walked around.
Temple gaurdian at Wat Phu Champasak. The site was a pre-Angkorian temple dedicated to Shivalinga worship. The site was chosen because it was at the base of a mountain shaped like a shivalinga (aka "Penis Mountain") which is the headwater of a sacred stream. The temple itself housed a shivalinga that was constantly bathed in the sacred water. Now, like most Hindu temples, it houses a large Buddha.
Ruins at Wat Phu Champasak. Note the naga and frangipani tree overtaking a wall, a classic SE Asian archealogical site. The site was less reconstructed than many other sites we've seen, which left more to the imagination and excited Colin.
Our Mekong river ferry on the way to Champasak. It was actually three boats held together by a bamboo platform that fit about 8 cars, several ladies selling noodles and of course hungry passengers.
Tad Lo waterfall, the second waterfall up the stream from our bungalow. There was a great water hole for swimming near here where the locals jumped in the current, almost getting swept away but always catching themselves before the next tier.
A particularly majestic water buffalo in a perfect water buffalo stance. There were usually cows grazing here, but one day there were only water buffalo to be seen on the banks of the river. Observing things like this occupied our time in Tad Lo. That and reading, napping, playing "Kineto" with some French people and going for walks. We also became friends with Mama Pap and her family, who ran a restaurant in the small village and cooked very large portions of food.
The view from our bamboo bungalow's balcony in Tad Lo, Laos. From here we could see the waterfall, the cows graze, the water buffalow wallow, women washing clothes and men fishing. It was perfect, we stayed over a week.

Karst Fest: Halong Bay and the North

Outside of Ninh Binh, Vietnam we found "Halong Bay in the rice paddies." We explored the area by motorbike and ended up on some back roads that kept on going forever. We stopped off at a small village (maybe 10 houses) for an ice cream and what looked like a home-brewed fruit spritzer from a nice lady that probably rarely sees white (devils) people.
Cat Ba National Park, Halong Bay. Our guide was a freaking monkey, he would run up the steep and slippery trail, wait for everyone to pass and then run ahead again. He climbed this rickety tower which was only supposed to hold 5 people at a time (which we saw after all 15 of us came down) and posed for photos. The park is beautiful and the climb steep, but the views amazing at the top. It looked like Jurassic Park, minus the dinosaurs of course. We spent the night on the island for the second night of our Halong Bay tour.

Colin, kayak steerer and power paddaler, stops for a photo in the early morning.
Kayaks lined up at a stop over in Halong Bay. We were told that there weren't enough for everyone on the boat to go at the same time (which was obviously not the case), so we went early in the morning for a little cruise around the karsts.
Amazing Halong Bay, Vietnam's redeeming beauty, with thousands of karst formations jutting out of the sea. We took a three day tour through the bay, cruising the karst and visiting a cave on the first day, then swimming in the bath-like waters and sleeping on the boat in the evening. The following morning we woke up early for kayaking, more cruising, and headed to Cat Ba Island, one of the largest in the bay. We almost didn't make the trip out here because of the hords of tourists, but it was one of the best places we saw in Vietnam.
Just some of the tourist boats that were lined up outside of the cave waiting for their passengers to be hustled through. We slept on one of these in the bay during our first night out.
A cave that we visited during our trip to Halong Bay. There were were at least 700 people in this cave at any given time, but it was really huge and even with all the other tourists was the best cave that we have seen on the trip. They also had these cool lights illuminating the stalagtites that added to the eerie and striking view.
Taken at the Temple of Literature which was the first University in Vietnam in Hanoi. On the backs of the turtles are lists of all the people that earned PhDs in a given year. The King proctored the exams himself, showing how important education has always been in Vietnam. Within the grounds there was a temple to Confucious, whose teachings were the basis of an old school Vietnamese education.
Amanda strikes a pose in the shade of an entrance gate to a Nguyen Dynasty King's country retreat which is now his burial monument. This particular building housed his many concubines. We rode here from Hue in the stifiling heat on bicycles and passed an open art gallery that was part of the festivities while we were there.