Jillian's Travels

Laos, Part 1

Day 39, February 5

*This post is coming a little late due to very limited wifi throughout all of Luang Prabang, Laos*

Today we woke up in what felt like paradise after being in hostels for so long. We had to get breakfast before 10am so didn’t have long to just lay around as much as we would have liked given the really comfortable bed. We threw on clothes and went and had an amazing breakfast. It was buffet style with fresh fruit, fresh squeezed pineapple/apple/orange juice, yogurt, noodles, eggs (any style), potatoes, cheese, croissants, baguettes, lattes, cappuccinos, teas, and many other things. Basically, it was a lot of goodness. And our table overlooked the pool. It was perfection.

I was feeling a little under the weather so I was drinking my own concoction of vitamin c and forgoing the coffee due to the caffeine. At this point I was finally coming around to accepting that I had a cold and that it wasn’t just allergies.

After a few plate fulls, we went back to our room to pack up and get ready for the day. We still had about an hour to spare so we went down to the lounge area that was overlooking the Nam Khan River. It was so peaceful and beautiful there, that we absolutely did not want to leave.

But noon came around quickly and we had to check out. The shuttle from the hotel that would take us into town didn’t arrive until 1pm so we had another hour to kill. I had wanted to ride bikes so we asked if we could check out the free ones at the hotel and ride for a while until our shuttle came. Because they were incredibly nice and helpful, the hotel people said yes.

So the Sisters Payne hopped on 2 bikes and wobbily tried to ride down the street. Mine was ok but my sister’s bike was way too tall so she was struggling. She had to go back to get the seat lowered. I decided that I’d get mine lowered as well just to be safe. After that we did ok.

We rode down to the bamboo bridge area without even knowing we had made it there. We discovered this later once we were in town. The ride felt really nice. It was really breezy and hadn’t gotten hot yet and neither one of us fell off so I’d say it was a success bike ride. I’m just happy I get to say I rode bikes in Laos.

It was getting close to 1pm so we headed back to turn the bikes in. The shuttle showed up about 5 minutes after that and we were headed to town. The drive only took like 10 minutes to get to the nearby street of our new hostel. The van couldn’t go down that street so the driver dropped us off and we walked the short distance to the enterance.

We get to the receptionist area and the girl helping us gives us one key and shows us to our 4 person dorm room. There is a heavyset guy with his shirt off sitting on his bottom bunk when we enter. We take a top and bottom bunk and say hi to him and have some small talk. I immediately turn to my sister and mouth “he’s a snorer”. Not even 5 minutes later, another guy comes to join our room and gets the remaining bed. He is from Seattle but living in Thailand doing human rights for the government.

The guy on the bottom, at some point, lies down and is out cold within 5 seconds. He immediately starts snoring. I walk out of the room to go get the wifi password and could hear him out in the main area. I then go back into the room where my sister and the Seattle guy are trying to have a conversation over the guy’s snoring. It then progresses to get worse and worse. It is borderline comical at this point. It doesn’t even sound humanily possible to make such noises. I decide I will not be able to handle this for 2 nights so I go to the front to see if there are 2 other beds. I don’t care if it’s in a bigger dorm room or if we have to pay more, I just did not/could not stay in that room with him.

I ask the girl that originally helped us and she is at first hesistant to tell me if there are open beds. I finally just tell her why and she laughed and said yes. She gives me 2 keys for 2 beds upstairs. I go tell my sister and we pack up. I also tell Seattle guy what we are doing and told him he should try to switch too unless he can handle that insane noise. He decides to switch as well and comes to join us upstairs. The snorer wasn’t even phased by all 3 of us packing up and leaving the room. He had no idea. I’m sure he woke up and wondered where his other 3 roommates were. Later in the day I found out that the beds all fully booked up. So we got really lucky that we asked when we did.

After that whole ordeal we decided it was time to get out and go see Luang Prabang a little and try to meet up with Taryn. Neither one of us had wifi at the same time so it became a game of tag with the messages. While we were out, I also stopped by a pharmacy to get some medicine for my cold that I’ve finally come around to accept.

My sister and I went to a restaurant overlooking the Mekong River and split a beer and roasted peanuts. We still weren’t hungry, we mainly just wanted to sit by the river in the shade because it was hotter than hell. Hence we got the 2 cheapest things on the menu and split it.

Then we decided to walk over to Taryn’s hostel to see if she’s there. We get there and try to look around but don’t see much. Right as we were headed towards the bathroom in the back, Andy, the owner comes out and tells us Taryn has already left. We ask for the wifi password so we can text her and he tells us no, it’s only for his guest. I ask if I can use the restroom and he yells “toilet only” to me from a distance. I use only the toilet and we get out of there quickly.

We decided to walk around a little bit more but most of the museums and temples were already closed for the day because it was Sunday. So instead we head back to our room where we can get wifi and contact Taryn.

I lie down to try and take a nap but it was incredibly hot and the A/C doesn’t come on until nighttime. Once it gets dark we head to the night market to walk around and find a restaurant for dinner.

We stop at a place we past early called Coconut Restaurant. I get the lentil soup and we split the fried bamboo and egg. The fried bamboo and egg was amazing. Some parts were a little too greasy but it was still really, really good.

After dinner we walked around the night market a little more before getting some coconut rice cakes. The coconut rice cakes were the same as the ones I had in Cambodia but they didn’t have the banana, corn and chives in the center.

Then Taryn went back to her hostel and my sister and I headed back to ours.

So far I am loving the laid back, take it easy, vibe of Laos. No one is in a rush here and no one pushes their souvenirs on you like other places. The prices are a little higher here compared to the other Asian countries we just came from but I’ve read a lot about how Laos is a very poor country. Knowing that, I really don’t mind if something costs $.50 more than Cambodia. The people have been very nice and the Luang Prabang is beautiful.

Day 40, February 6

We woke up at 5am to go to an Aussie Sports Bar to watch the Super Bowl. On our way over to the bar, we saw the monks collecting alms. This is where they walk around the streets receiving canned items and food from the shop workers and residents. That was a very cool thing to witness. The streets are so quiet at that time so it’s very peaceful.

We were one of the first people to arrive so we got a really good seat. People slowly continued to trickle in and within the first quarter it was full.

The prices were a little high at the bar so we just got a coffee and decided we’d eat after the game. But since the Super Bowl takes a half day we were starving by the end.

It was pretty amazing to see how many people from other countries came out at such an early time just to watch the game. I met people from Germany, Sweden, Canada and Australian. One couple from Germany had always been curious about it but never had the opportunity to watch it so they came out.

Before the game and during halftime, there was an Asian broadcast team giving their opinion on the game. That was quite interesting.

There were 2 girls sitting next to us that were from Atlanta so I was really glad they sat next to us. I was not wanting a Tom Brady fan next to me. I kept telling people I didn’t care who won because I was a Cowboy fan here for Lady Gaga but I really did want Brady to lose.

It seemed at first that the crowd was evenly split but then in the 4^th quarter is when we realized that Patriots had some secret fans in the crowd because the place went crazy.

After the game we went across the street for a late breakfast. I got an omelette and a latte.

While my sister was finishing up her meal I ran to find a mini mart where I could buy some tuna because there was a stray cat in need of food.

After breakfast we headed back to the hostel to start booking our flight, bus ticket, hostels and visas for Myanmar. It took a while because the internet at our hostel (and I’m thinking all throughout Laos) is pretty crappy. We eventually were able to book our flight, bus ticket, and hostel but the visa we decided we’d have to do at another time.

As we were in our room trying to book our Myanmar stuff, in walks one of the guys from the bar. He was switching hostels and landed at our hostel in our exact room. He was wanting to check out the museums throughout town as well so he just tagged along with us.

Our first stop was the UXO (Unexploded Ordnance). This free museum is to educate people on all of the unexploded remnants of war that are still scattered throughout parts of Laos. I learned that a lot of the unexploded items are left over from the Vietnam War. It was incredibly sad and frustrating to learn that that war is still wrecking havoc to this day.

Laos has the unfortunate distinction of being the worlds most heavily bombed nation. So to this day, innocent people are killed everyday from bombs, landmines, etc. detonating without warning.

After that sad history lesson, we headed to the Royal Palace that is now a museum. The Royal family lived in the palace up until 1975 when the communist party overthrew the monarchy and took the family to re-education camps. After that it was turned into a national museum.

Everything is over the top with excess. Gold and Buddha figurines and statues are at every turn. Photos weren’t allowed inside and they were very serious about that. They also had a lot of gifts that were given to the Royal Family from different nations. The US had given the family quite a few items throughout the decades.

After that we stopped to get some lunch. I got the fresh spring rolls so that I still had room for some mango. I have to get fresh mango everyday, I’ve decided, because it is so fresh and cheap here.

We met up with one of the Atlanta natives that we met at the bar. She joined us to go to the Phou Si Mountain. It’s quite a steep hike to get up to but once you get to the top, the views are amazing. We timed it just right and were up there for sunset.

After it got dark, we went to a place called Utopia that is a backpacker haven. It has yoga, a restaurant, bar, games, rooms and it all overlooks the Nam Khan River.

I got the chicken laap with sticky rice. Laap is a traditional Laos dish that you find on every menu here. I finally decided to give it a try. It was ok but nothing I’ll be getting again.

After eating we hung out there a little while longer before saying our goodbyes to Amanda (the girl from the bar) and each heading to our hostels. It’s a weird thing being a backpacker; you meet people and hang out with them all day and then everyone goes their own ways.

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