Lovely Laos

Okay, so I am sure I have lost all my readership ... not even sure if I should keep writing, but I guess I will post just to share some stories.

I am now in Laos. and I LOVE it. the NY Times rated Laos the number one tour destination in the world, and so far, out of Asia, it is my favorite. it is so beautiful, full of amazing nature, with no crouds, pleasant, quiet people ... perhaps coming from Vietnam it is extra special and calm. I have only been here 2 full days and already want to stay 3-4 weeks!

I decided to take a 1.5 hr flight from Hanoi instead of a 30 hour bus ride. The flight had the added benefit of a visa-on-arrival option at the airport. It is crazy having to think about visas to travel places. I have had to get visas for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, and will need one for China as well. For Cambodia and Laos, you can get them on-the-spot at the border, which is nice. And this time I forgot my passport-sized photo, but luckily they accepted US$1 instead. You can pay people for just about anything in this world!
On the plane I met a nice girl named Amanda, from Australia, also traveling alone. We hit it off, as we were sat next to each other, and she let me hitch a ride with her taxi to the hotel she had pre-booked. or rather "guest house" - as virtually all hotels in Luang Prabang are really people's homes! We were both over-joyed at the quiet peacefullness of the town, a pleasant shock coming from loud, crazy, busy hanoi. Here no one bothers you to sell you rides or postcards or trinkets. No one honks. No one shouts or talks overly-loudly. Buddhist monks roam everwhere and there are more temples than big hotels. The town is on the banks of the mekong, with pretty, candle-lit restuarants overlooking the river from the level of the town about 20 meters above the water.

My first day I slept in, found another guest house to move to closer to everything in the old town, though really nothing is more than a 5 minute walk in this tiny town! Then I had a lovely breakfast of fresh fruit with yogurt and meusli at a restuarant overlooking the mekong. then I happened to pass by a little mini-bus stop offering trips to the waterfall nearby. I booked an 11:30am trip. The waterfall turned out to be amazing, peaceful, with just a handfull of tourists, compared to the crouds everywhere in Vietnam. They also had a black bear sanctuary, so I spent a bit watching the bears play and splash-around in their real live jungle-gym. then hiked up to the top of a beautiful, jungle waterfall, about 50 meters up (? have to admit, I am REALLY bad with guessing distances!). the climb was tricky, on steep, dried-mud going vertically up. the view from the top was nice, and I was able to wade across the top of the fall to come down the other side! then I went swimming in the most beatiful natural blue pools after the bottom of the falls. (I have attempted to upload fotos for you to see!)

And then the next day, today, I went kayaking and swimming on a beatiful river flowing into the mekong. We floated and paddled along - just me and the guide and two other couples, from Australia and Hungary. We didn't see any other tourists! the scenery is beatiful, with big hills covered in green, fields planted, the occasional water buffalo or fisherman, big limestone cliffs.
Then we visited a cave with 1000 buddhas ... mostly small ones! Then we kayaked some more, had some home-made rice "whiskey" - very strong! - and headed back to town. This evening I enjoyed a nap, a massage for $4, delicious dinner for $2 and some emailing!!!

Signing off from Laos!