Moved my things to a private room at the Chilllaos hostel about a block away. Ate lunch at one of the restaurants playing the TV show Friends. Felt very tired, so I stayed in my room all day by myself. Ate dinner at the same place.
The tour started at 11 a.m. All four of us rode a private minibus to the three Plain of Jars sites. “Plain” is an exaggeration; “fields” is perhaps more fitting. The first site (called Site 3) was a five minute hike from a parking lot through some dry rice fields and rolling hills. Fortunately, the area had been cleared of land mines. I’d seen all I wanted to see after about five minutes. They’re just large stone jars, some sunk in the dirt, some tipped over, some chipped, some with holes, some full of dirt, some full of water. Aside from the mysteries of their origin and how they were transported, there wasn’t much else to them. I could have lived with just seeing some pictures in a guidebook or online. Oh well. The second site (Site 2) involved a moderate hike with a beautiful view of the surrounding valley and hills, but it had fewer jars. The third site (Site 1) was the biggest, sporting around 300 jars and a neat cave with a hole in the ceiling that you could hike to from outside. Seeing just Site 1 would have been enough. The weather was very pleasant all day. Actually, come to think of it, the weather was very pleasant all throughout Laos everyday. Returned to the guesthouse and ate some dinner, then all four of us rode a tuk tuk to the bus terminal and rode a “VIP” sleeper bus toward Vang Vieng. Arrived there at 4 a.m., and Vincent and I got off and rode a tuk tuk into town. We walked around and found a guesthouse to get a few hours’ sleep in. We shared a room, as before. Vincent had to leave around 9 a.m. to ride a minibus out of town, so we said goodbye as he left the room. I let myself sleep in until I had to check out around noon.
Rode a minibus to Phonsavan for six hours. Stopped at a small town on the way for lunch and ate with another guy from the minibus named Vincent. Shared a tuk tuk with Vincent and two girls from the Phonsavan bus terminal to the center of town where all the guesthouses are. Vincent and I shared a room with two twin beds. It was cheap, but the wifi sucked. We looked around at a couple of tourist agencies and all four of us finally booked a tour of the three Plain of Jars sites for the next day. I ended up deciding to ride a sleeper bus the next evening to Vang Vieng. We ate dinner at a local place about a block away, then went to bed.
Woke up earlier than I expected, at about 8:30 a.m. Read my Laos guidebook about the northern area to plan where to go next. Decided to go to the Plain of Jars next, and then to the wild debauchery of Vang Vieng. Walked around town with my guidebook and saw all the temples that I had missed the day before. Met a couple novice monks, Joy and Sing, and talked with them for about an hour. Sing was 19 and wanted to quit the temple life and enroll in a university. He wanted tips for flirting with girls and wanted to know about my dating life. It was very amusing. In the late afternoon I felt tired, so I returned to my hostel and rested for a bit, then went to the night market for dinner. Ran into Michelle and her friend and I ate with them and a guy from Australia who also sat with us. Bought some more banana bread on my way back to my hostel. Caught up on my blog and got my stuff ready to go in the morning.
My birthday! Let myself sleep in. Tried to call my parents, but the wifi wasn’t working. Walked into downtown and rented a bicycle for 10,000 kip. Rode around town looking at some temples. Stopped at a cafe for a Coke to cool off and use their wifi to call my parents and Tess. Continued riding around town and saw a a couple more temples. Returned the bicycle and ran into Matteo. Walked with him a little and then parted ways to go to Utopia to treat myself to a delicious dinner of steak, fries, salad, fried spring rolls, a mai tai, a mojito, and a large Beer Laos. Bernard and Jenny joined me again and we sat and drank and chatted all evening. We walked back to the hostel together, and then Bernard and I walked to the night market to buy some fruit-flavored bread for dessert. He and Jenny were leaving town the next day, but I had decided to stay an extra day. They were getting up early to see the monks collect food donations before leaving, and I thought about doing that too. We all went to bed. I had trouble falling asleep, so I decided to skip the monk stuff in the morning at sleep in instead. It’s my birthday, after all.
Rode a minibus with Aimee, Glenn, Nic, Sara, Dan, Sylvia, Michelle, and Ingo to the gorgeous Kuang Si waterfalls. Took lots of pictures, swam, swung on a rope and jumped off a small cliff into the icy blue water. Hiked up to all the different pools and falls. Got lost coming down the other side of the falls and ended up taking the long way back to the bottom of the falls. Returned to the hostel. Hiked Phou Si hill for a view of Luang Prabang at sunset with a girl from my dorm named Monica (from Australia). Walked with Monica to another popular bar and lounge I’d heard about called Utopia. Ate dinner and drank beers and chatted with Monica, her friends, and Bernard (from Austria) and Jenny (from Finland), who were also from our dorm. Walked home when curfew closed the bar and chatted with Bernard and Jenny a little more around a campfire at the hostel.
Ate another American breakfast and got a sandwich to go for lunch on the slow boat. Boarded at 8:30 a.m. and sat and waited for the stragglers to arrive. Departed around 9:30 a.m. Sat with Aimee (from Austin, Texas) and we chatted for a while. I also read and listened to a couple podcasts and some music. The scenery was again very beautiful. This time my seat was much more cramped, but still the time passed quickly enough. We arrived in Luang Prabang, the old capital of Laos (rhymes with cow, not mouse), and Aimee and I took a tuk tuk to our hostel, Spicylaos. Walked with Aimee, Shelley, Glenn, and Matteo to the night market and ate a cheap dinner on the street for 10,000 kip (remember, I’m a multi-millionaire here). We crossed over the ridge of Phou Si hill near the market as a shortcut to a popular bar and lounge we had heard about called Laos Laos Garden. We ordered buckets there and hung out for an hour or so. The group decided to go dancing or bowling, I can’t recall which, and I headed for the toilet quickly before we left. I was gone for only a minute, but in that time everyone had piled into a tuk tuk and was gone. I found myself unexpectedly alone and decided to make my way back to the hostel and call it a night.
No hot water for my shower, and there was a breeze from a fan when I turned on the shower light, so I skipped the shower except for a light rinse. Ate an American breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant. Shared a tuk tuk to the river boat pier at 9:30 a.m. Boarded around 10 a.m. and sat waiting to depart for an hour or two as others trickled on board. Listened to podcasts the whole time and watched the beautiful landscape roll by. Arrived in Pakbeng at around sunset. Hauled my gear up the hill and looked at a couple places before deciding on a somewhat pricey place at 300 baht for the night. The mattress was nice and soft for my poor back. Ate dinner with Aimee, an American from Austin, Texas, that I had met before boarding the boat, and her friends Shelley, Glenn, and Matteo, and their friends Alex and Mary. Returned to my hotel to shower and shave. Computer time until bed time. I had heard they shut off the electricity to the city at 10 p.m., but this wasn’t the case.
Awoke still sick with a bad back. Ate a cheap lunch at a local restaurant. Rode the bus to Chiang Khong at the Thailand–Laos border. Shared a tuk tuk with a guy to the Mekong river shore and exited Thailand. Bought passage across the river and landed on the Laos shore. Paid the fee and entered the town of Huay Xai in Laos. Walked up the hill and looked at a few places and chose to stay at a nice hotel with wifi and air con. Found an ATM and withdrew a million kip (around US$100). Bought a Coke to cool off. Bought a slow boat ticket for 950 baht for the following morning. Hung out in my hotel room. Ate dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. My back was still thrown out. Computer time in my room.
Woke up still feeling sick, and also felt like I had thrown my back out (the “mattresses” were really stiff). Showered, ate lunch, stayed in all day watching BSG, bought a bus ticket to Chiang Khong at the Thailand–Laos border, went out again for dinner, then returned to the hostel.
