ooh heck it's Tha Khaek. .....

After a brief overnight stay in the capital, Vientiane, ( a cultured and somewhat  sophisticated city: Needless to say, JB and I fitted in perfectly) where we watched the sun set over the mighty Mekong, again(!!),  (apparently, it's a nightly phenomenon....) We set out on the 6 hour bus journey to Tha Khaek.

Some people might describe Tha Khaek as a one horse town. Those people would would probably be:
a)  overly generous,  and
b) have a strong grudge against horses.

So,  why are we here?


Well, about 13k outside town is the most spectacular scenery. Lots of big limestone karsts, semi hidden in jungle ( some of which I'm told can be climbed.....), deep mysterious caves and underground rivers. ( It's Gollum country and no mistake.....)


Also, our hotel supplies free nightly cocktails.....

Oh, and it's on the Mekong, so we can watch the sun set over the.......(yawn,yawn.....)

Pest watch

Cockroaches  14
Rats (still) 3

Who knows where the pests are in Laos?
Maybe the dust keeps them down.....

Dust and heat

A very warm welcome to Veng Viang, blog mates. It's a lovely place, if a little dusty. It's the kind of place that ambitious dust comes to in order to really learn its trade.

However, it has got some stunning scenery.  Here's the view from our hotel room.

The place is full of bright young things (and quite a few not so bright, if I'm honest)  jamming their rear ends into dusty inner tubes and floating down the river.  It's a shortcut to haemorrhoids and no mistake....

Here's a picture of the river ( mercifully free of tubular youth)

What with all this partying going on, it was inevitable that at some point, even we would be offered drugs for sale. Regular readers will be well aware that I always keep a couple of medicated corn plasters about my person, so I reckoned I had the drugs scene covered, and politely declined.

Did I mention the dust????

Roadside carnage!!

We set off on a minibus over the steep mountain roads to the aforementioned Vang Vieng.  Halfway up one of the steepest sections, we came upon a BeerLao delivery truck that had shed its load!

(BeerLao, for the uninitiated, is Laos finest, well only, if I'm honest, beer....)

There must have been at least thirty crates strewn across the road, their precious cargo lost.

I would have supplied a photo, but JB collapsed when confronted with such senseless waste, and I had to revive him.

A black day indeed....

Onward and Upward

We've decided to move on to Vang Vieng , a place slightly further south, famed for its tubing and allegedly Party Central.(Although I think my invite must still be in the post.....)


I wasn't all that sad to leave Luang Prabang. It's a nice enough place, slightly faded glamour, lots of Buddhist monks, and the Mekong running through it.

A bit like Ulverston, really. But without the Mekong....

Lao'd and clear

Welcome to Laos,  blog mates. Specifically, Luang Prabang, a town in the North of the country.  It's a UNESCO world heritage site, if that means anything to you, (and to be honest, it doesn't mean much to me..........)
It's an exceptionally laid back place, bordered by the Mekong River, with a fair few temples and examples of French architecture that have seen better days.

The currency in Laos is the kip. ( which rather puts a different slant on saying you're going upstairs for a kip, I can tell you..... )

Anyway, here's a picture of the sun seeing over the mighty Mekong....

 

I know that you're probably fed up with temple stuff, but hear me out, mates, this is interesting.

Every day at around 4pm, 2 or 3 of the more musical monks gather together to wallop seven shades out of a ceremonial drum like this one...

I've witnessed it, mates, and I must admit, the lads in saffron have rhythm. ....


That's about it for now, blog mates , my water buffalo burger has just arrived and requires my full attention....


Until next time...

Foreign pie news

I bring tidings of great joy!!! There has been a breakthrough in the Thai pie deadlock . Discovered at Chaing Mai airport, moments before our departure, I found the following:

Chicken pie:  quite  substantial filling,  curry oriented,  not a bad effort, although let down by greasy pastry.

Spinach pie:  A treat that would certainly please Popeye.   Lots of filling, a reasonable effort, although again, pastry not quite up to scratch.


NB. Both of the above were basically flavoured sausage rolls. But they are a starting point for what was until now bthought to be a pie free zone.
 Stand down, Greggs  pie missionaries..