Lovely, Lovely Laos

At the moment, I'm sitting in the World Heritage town of Luang Prabang, Laos. Prior to my arrival, I had heard only good things about Luang Prabang: the people were genuine and friendly, the prices were out-of-this-world cheap, and the surroundings were breathtakingly beautiful. Well, my friends, I can now personally tell you that these are all massive understatements. Although I hate picking favorites, Luang Prabang just might be my favorite place that I've travelled to...ever. Top five, anyway.

Before gushing on about Laos, and the last leg of Vietnam - which I will do, so fear not -I forgot to mention one of the highlights of Hanoi in my last blog! Believe it or not, I gave the traditional water puppet show a go...and liked it! The tradition was started by rice farmers in the 1100s, and has carried on since then. I'll admit that I was a little bit apprehensive to see the show, as I was expecting a lame, slightly creepy It's a Small World-esque atmosphere. However, I decided to try it out, since it is one of northern Vietnam's most famous attractions, and it only cost me $3. I was pleasantly surprised! The musicians wore traditional northern Vietnamese costumes, and played wicked-sounding traditional instruments. The theatre was well constructed, with a set of palm trees, a backdrop of a traditional northern Vietnamese home, and a large pool of water. The puppets were worked quite professionally, portraying Vietnamese customs such as picking coconuts, dragon parades, and rice farming, and set to an amazing soundtrack. The dragon puppets shot water...I thought that was pretty awesome! Altogether, I would suggest going to a water puppet show if you ever find yourself in Hanoi. It's inexpensive, fun, and not as lame as you would think...I promise!

After two days in Hanoi, I took a night bus to the hill-tribe village of Sapa. All of the travellers I've met who had been to Sapa raved about how beautiful it was, so spending a few days in town wasn't even a question for me. It's home to a large handicraft market, villagers who wear colorful costumes, rice fields and Fanispan, Vietnam's highest peak. Unfortunately, my two days in the mountain town weren't quite as ideal as I had hoped. Upon arrival, the temperature had dropped significantly, causing me to trade my shorts and tank top for long pants, running shoes and layers! The temperature was about eight degrees at most, which is freezing in Vietnam. The locals were all bundled up in North Face parkas, and none of the buildings seemed to have heating systems - although my guesthouse had heated mattress covers. They was truly heaven-sent. The fog was so thick that I could only see about twenty feet in front of me at a time, making it difficult to figure out where I was going, and ruling out any chances of seeing the mountains and terraced rice fields. It was quite disappointing.

But somehow, Sapa became one of my favorite destinations in Southeast Asia. The ambience of walking around a tiny mountain town in the fog is actually quite relaxing. The markets sold amazing crafts and jewellery, some of which I'm bringing home with me. And the food was absolutely delicious! I indulged in one of the most fantastic wood-fire pizzas I've ever tried. If you find yourself in Sapa, I strongly suggest trying the Nature Bar and Grill or the Sapa Lotus Restaurant. It has the same feeling of sitting in a mountain lodge in Banff, but you only pay a fraction of the price for the food!

After the aggressive hawkers in Sihanoukville, I was a little gun-shy to venture out in a market by myself...one death threat is enough for my trip, thank you very much. However, the methods of selling in Sapa were completely different. They take a gentler, more calm approach, and instead of selling manicures, and leg waxes performed in front of the whole beach, they sell homemade bags, jewellery and other little doodads that a person might actually want to spend money on! When I first arrived in Sapa, I accumulated an entourage of hill-tribe women, who followed me silently to my guesthouse. I did run into two women who convinced me to buy purses from them. We agreed on a decent price, and I think that I made their day. The locals were so genuinely friendly in Sapa, and I felt very safe. It was also nice to be able to say no without being hassled. If you smile, say "No thank you", and keep walking, the women will follow you for a little while, and then get the picture and move on. Definitely a step up from having scissors held in my face!

After two days, I had to say goodbye to Sapa. I really wish that the skies had been clearer so that I could have seen the amazing surroundings, but I guess I'll just have to come back one day!

I took a night bus to Hanoi, where I caught a ride to the airport. I had originally considered putting myself through the treacherous, twenty-five hour bus ride from Hanoi to Luang Prabang, just for the experience, but because of my time crunch, I made the decision to fly. The flight cost $185, which was expensive, but since it saved me a whole day, I reasoned that it was a fair trade. The Hanoi airport isn't huge, but no one speaks much English, and all of the signs seemed to say "domestic terminal". I was feeling a little bit panicky, so I took my e-ticket to one of the kiosks and pointed frantically, only to recieve a huge smile from the lady working there. She told me in broken English that I was in the right place, and could check in in twenty minutes. Phew!

A tip: if you decide to make this flight, go with Lao Airlines. They have friendly staff, and although it's a short, hour-long flight, they'll feed you!

When I arrived in the Luang Prabang Airport (one tiny terminal), I was directed right to immigration, where I got my Lao visa in a matter of minutes, and then was able to get my bag and take a cab ($2 from the airport) to my hostel. I couldn't help noticing that the visa fee for Canadians was by far the most expensive. It cost me $42. I really want to know what Canada ever did to have to pay so much! On the bright side, that's it for visas, as I don't need one when I re-enter Thailand. Like I said, phew!

Luang Prabang is magical. There is no other way to put it. The Spicylaos hostel, a UNESCO Heritage house, isn't as hostel-y as I expected, but it is definitely one of the most social places I've stayed. I've met tons of friendly people, which is one of my main priorities as a solo traveller. The town is so quiet and laid-back, especially after two weeks in Vietnam! It has French architecture, and tons of delicious bakeries, cafes and fruit shake stands line the main street. Not far away from the hostel is the Mekong River, where you can sit at an outdoor cafe and have a delicious meal for ridiculously low prices. I just finished a pad Thai an hour ago, and I'm considering going back later. If you're a penny-pincher like me, you can head to the food market. Every night at about 5:30, food vendors set up stalls where you can pay 10, 000 kip (about $1.20), and help yourself to all sorts of veggies and noodles. The idea is to fill your plate as full as you can, and then get the vendors to fry it together with hot sauce. Delicious! I've been three nights in a row. The Beerlao is also cheap, and tons of travellers hang out here for dinner.

The main street also shuts down about this time for the infamous night market. You can buy pretty much everything here, from t-shirts to unique textiles and handicrafts. I did a fair bit of shopping the other night. It's easy to barter the prices, although every once in a while they offer such a good price that you don't even need to!

Today it rained, so a group of six of us from the hostel decided to head to the Red Cross for a Lao massage. It was totally worth it! It cost about $5 for an hour, and the money goes to legitimate causes. My back feels a lot better now! I'm ready to carry my ever-expanding backpack!

Yesterday, we took a day-trip to a waterfall outside of town. Although the trip out was a little rough (about an hour sitting in a tuk-tuk driving over bumpy dirt roads), the scenery was totally worth it. The countryside was unbelievably stunning, and it was interesting to see non-touristy towns, where people were just living their day-to-day lives.

It cost 20, 000 kip to see the waterfall ($1.20 Canadian). It was a quick walk through a park. En route, you pass a bear protection centre...and I saw two sun bears playing! I stayed and watched for a while...they were so cute, although it made me miss my dog. The centre was set up to protect different species of bears from poaching. The area was spacious, and I was glad to see that in countries outside of North America, there was still effort put towards protecting animals.

The waterfall was just what the doctor ordered on a hot day. The water was sapphire blue, and you could swing on a rope out of a tree and jump in, or jump from a rock into the pool below. The water was colder than I expected, and very refreshing. It felt like a jungle oasis in a movie. I had been debating whether or not I wanted to go. Taking the trip was definitely a good call!

Tomorrow, I'm leaving Luang Prabang, and heading to Vang Vieng, home of the infamous tubing. I wouldn't mind staying in Luang Prabang forever, but I'm excited to try some tubing, and see more of Laos!

Questions? Comments? Criticisms? I'd love to hear them all!
the-wanderingjew@hotmail.com