I thought I would be better about updating the blog, now that I am traveling on my own and less busy, but I guess I don't really have an excuse..I've been lazy.
I left Hanoi last week and flew to Luang Prabang Laos, which is where my laziness really began. LP is a small town in northern Laos, and is a UNESCO world heritage site. This place is so amazing...the town sits on a peninsula where two rivers meet, surrounded by mountains...there are shimmering wats on practically every street corner, monks hanging out in their saffron robes...however the town also feels European thanks to French Indochina. Like Hoi An the architecture is French colonial, but more refined and the food is a great mix of Asian and European flavors. I ended up getting a room in a tiny little guest house on the banks of the Mekong river, and stayed for five days. The owner is a friendly Laos man with a huge smile and basic English...I don't think he really knew what to think of me...American girl in Laos by herself for five nights...
Anyways, in LP I explored all the Wats on a rickety pink bike which didn't really have brakes, visited two waterfalls, hung out with some elephants, hiked, read my book, watched the sunset on the Mekong every night and had great food. All in all it was a very relaxing five days...lot's of much needed down time from my busy life in CH and travels through Cambodia and Vietnam.
From LP I flew to Chiang Mai Thailand on Laos Airlines. Not sure if anyone is familiar with this airline, but it's run by the Laos government and is really the only airline that flies within Laos. Before I bought my ticket to Chiang Mai, I read in Lonely Planet (the travel bible) that this airline doesn't have the best safety record... had some issues in the past couples years etc...However I bought my ticket as it was better than the bus (70% of the roads in Laos are not paved). When I say the airport is tiny, I really mean tiny. There is one gate for international flights and you wait in this old room sitting in vintage (well at least in America) Herman Miller chairs. So then the plane pulls up to the gate, (which is really just a glass sliding door) and it's a prop plane (not sure if that's the right lingo...not jet engines but propellers) This plane was probably fabricated in the 60's...Inside the cabin, the seats where so tiny, I barely fit...it was like sitting on a hard bench. We took off and I wasn't sure if the plane was really going to make it off the ground....but it did and I managed to make it to Chiang Mai in one piece. Quite an aviation experience! Next time I'm in Laos I should probably take the bus.
Chiang Mai was fantastic as I had a luxury hotel room thanks to a connection with the hotel manager (thanks Viva Uible!) It was great, I explored Chiang Mai in the mornings and every afternoon came back to the hotel to hang out by the pool! What a vacation.
Yesterday I flew from Chiang Mai to Phuket and currently staying in Patong Beach, which is a story I will save for my next blog entry...all I have to say is lots of middle age western men with too much viagra.
