Embedded Files
Having arrived late on Saturday and settled into Luang Prabang, we awoke early on Sunday morning ready for a day of silk weaving. We were picked up after breakfast from the weaving company's boutique shop in town. They took us to a peaceful campus location overlooking the Mekong, where we got a tour of the facility before settling down to the business of weaving. We picked our own patterns and colours and had a crash course in how to use the loom. Throughout the day, lots of visitors came to visit the company campus to learn about the process of weaving and Will became a bit of a tourist attraction. I think because men don't traditionally weave, he was asked lots of questions by the visiting groups and starred in many of their photos. By the end of the day, with lots of assistance from the experts, we had each created a beautiful scarf!
Monday was another early start but this time for a more physical activity, kayaking! We both love water sports and had been looking forward to kayaking on the iconic Mekong river. The company we booked through had arranged for us to have a double, instead of our usual singles. This led to a morning of accidentally splashing each other (mostly me splashing Will) and lots of comments about my incorrect paddle style! It was all good fun though. We stopped for a short break to visit the Pak Ou Caves before heading back to hand in our kayaks at the company shop. We had lunch there before getting dropped back to our hotel, where we rested for the remainder of the afternoon. Once evening had arrived, we were ready to venture out and explore the stalls at the night market and I came away with lots of souvenirs. Will, as per usual, was unable to commit to actually buying anything he liked and came away empty handed. He did manage to settle on some dinner though and we enjoyed sitting in the market, people watching as we ate.
The next day was supposed to be a full day of hiking, but we unfortunately had to cancel as I had struggled to fully recover from the food poisoning of the week before. We took the decision to have a rest day instead so I snoozed in our hotel room, whilst Will went out to explore some of the local sites. When he came back, I learnt about his adventures up Phousi Hill and his visit to the national museum. After lunch, as I wasn't really feeling much better, we decided to get the local hospital address from our accommodation host. We did originally ask her for a local doctor, but she said they only work after 6pm and sometimes they don't work at all. Having decided not to risk waiting to see if a doctor was available later, we headed over to the hospital where we were seen very quickly. Within 2hrs I had been hooked up to an IV for an infusion and then discharged with some medicine to take over the next week. Fingers crossed it does the trick!
Even though I wasn't yet 100%, we still wanted to move on to our next destination, with the hope that my medicine would kick in along the way. We packed up on Wednesday morning, said goodbye to our host and headed to the train station. When we arrived we were surprised to see that the building looked more like a temple than a station. The process of getting into the station also surprised us; it was like going through airport security. We had to show our passports and tickets and then put our luggage through an x-ray machine before walking through the metal detector. Once inside, the airport feeling continued, with rows of central seating and surrounding shops. We were called to board over the tannoy and everyone queued to have their tickets checked again before being allowed out onto the platform and finally onto the train. The train journey was only an hour long and gave us a mix of stunning mountain views followed by long tunnel blackness. We arrived in Vang Vieng late afternoon and wasted no time getting a ride to our accommodation as we were keen to start exploring. After checking in we went for a wander and found a good variety of restaurants, choosing to stop at a local one, where we could order traditional Lao dishes.
I had Thursday as another rest day, trying to speed up my recovery, so it was up to Will to do some sight seeing. He visited the local temple and just enjoyed wandering round the backstreets, admiring the amazing views of the mountain scenery. We tried a different Laos restaurant for dinner and had a new selection of local dishes to choose from, delicious yet again!
On Friday I was feeling well enough to join Will in the day's activity. It probably helped matters that it was kayaking again, which I really enjoy and didn't want to miss! This time we were paddling down the local river, the Nam Song River and were yet again given a double kayak to share. I think all the kayaking we've been doing has paid off though, because this time I got the paddling stroke correct and it meant for a much smoother ride than earlier in the week. We stopped for lunch at a adventure complex and after we'd eaten we were shown round the site and got to go inside the Angel Cave and to tube through the Water Cave. Cave tubing is something neither of us had done before and was a fun addition to our day. To end our trip, we did the zip-line course they had at the complex, flying through the trees and over the river. Then it was back to our accommodation and time to find a restaurant for dinner. I really fancied some comfort food and Will agreed that we could stretch the food budget for the night to find somewhere that served western dishes. We settled for cafe that served burgers and pasta, a perfect taste of home!
The next day it was time to leave Vang Vieng. After packing our bags and leaving our hotel, we went back to the train station. We were prepared for the airport-like security this time and had our passports and tickets to hand and our bags ready to scan. They have such an efficient process and before long we were on our train and speeding towards Vientiane. We had enjoyed the food and the amazing mountain views during our stay in Vang Vieng, but were excited to head to the capital of Laos.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse