Laos 2- Slowly and dreamily runs the River

We get the 8 hr bus to Luang Prabang, stopping in Vang Vieng to halve the journey. Mark and I think a 2 day stop to break the journey might be a good idea, so we book into a little Traditional Lao guest house. As we arrive by night and it’s dark we have no idea what the surrounding landscape is like.

OMG when we wake up, we are stunned. Sheer vast karsts shooting up out of the ground, clad in jungle fauna as though it was a last minute decision that they should appear at all in this landscape, deep green  set against pure blue clear skies in the background. They are everywhere, they are dotted around the valley and the Nam Songh river weaves dreamily through it. This feels like a Vietnamese landscape. It’s jaw droppingly beautiful and I know already that we have to stay longer, so we extend our stay to a week.Our guest house is a traditional wooden building with loads of charm. We have a little wooden cabin, with a wooden verandah. It has a jungle feeling to it, but quiet and quaint courtyard with a big table, where we have breakfast and while away a lot of time, doing journals, (this isn’t an easy process …. Daily whines and grumbles) drawing, playing etc.

This place is like an exotic adventure playground and we immediately know this is going to be a fun holiday and a little hedonistic too.

We get in a little tuk-tuk along the rusty red earth roads, white oxen grazing in the fields, school children on bicycles,  and head out to the Blue Lagoon, where a great tree has grown over the river, making a great jump of at least 6 metres into the turquoise waters. There is a swing and a bar and lots of bamboo platforms where you sit and read in the shade over looking the river. Mark and I are definitely the oldest people there and the children are definitely the youngest people there! So it’s quite a cool hang out spot for funky young things.

Jemima takes on the challenge of jumping from the highest branch. She gets a round of applause from onlookers.

We return here another day for another swim and this time, we all have a go at zip wiring through the canopy of the trees. This consists of being clipped on to by a contraption and a harness, which slides along the wire possibly as high as 30 metres above the ground at immense speed. Gabriel and Jemima are completely fearless – maybe their trust in adults is so great that they haven’t got that far to realise all the potential danger. I on the other hand, have my heart in my throat. Will Gabriel, who is hurtling off at great speed, tipping himself upside down as he slides down the wire 40 metres above the ground with a huge wide grin on his face, stop before he gets to the midway tree top at the other end? Surely he is going so fast he will knock the waiting instructor off the tree platform at the other end? When it’s my go, fairly terrified, I too readily use the brake and I slow down too soon and am left dangling high above the ground, until the instructor whizzes back down to rescue me and then has to manually pull me and him back to the waiting platform. We do this 5 times. Sweeping above trees. It’s quite thrilling and we all get BIG adrenalin rush and it’s “More more more!”, from an excited Jemima and Gabriel.

The shops in Vang Vieng are selling jewellery and keyring souvenirs made of a strange silver/ or non shiny pewter looking material. They are made out of the debris left behind from the bombs left strewn across the Plain of Jars in the aftermath of the clandestine Secret War. This was an clandestine war conducted by the Americans who were allied with the Laotian army, in its futile attempts to resist invasion from the North Vietnamese Communists. There are still undetonated bombs and mines everywhere, so many that you are advised NOT to venture off unknown paths. So many that everyday , some Innocent civilian, usually a  child playing in the countryside, and their world is suddenly blown apart. It was and in a sense continues to be an evil and pointless war. The  proceeds from the sale of the souvenirs help to provide an income for the lost and damaged lives of mine victims. It’s all so recent in their lives.

We while away a week here, kayaking, exploring a cave immersed in the river in rubber tyres, we even manage to lol down the river in bathing costumes seated in inner rubber tyres, treating ourselves to crispy lemon and sugar pancakes by night.

Then we drag ourselves away from this jewel of a place and say goodbye to the Australian family we have been spending time with and head on to Luang Prabang.

This has been a lovely stop.