China to Laos and more

Kunming to Luang Prabang
Kunming is a regional hub in SouthEast China north of the Laos border. We landed at the airport which was clean efficient and much more than we’d expected. We asked for the bus station and were repeatedly told to get a Taxi by a very helpful Tourist helpdesk. Of course that was ignored and to the chagrin of some we walked into the unknown to find the bus stop which was of course just outside the airport- why would it not be? The bus ride was ridiculously cheap at 2 Yuan for the whole ride and we saw a little of the city before arriving at a very substantial pedestrianised area and our hostel.


After checking in we relaxed on the roof terrace and caught up with sleep before going for a wander. This city was not a tourist destination; so it was great to get a little taste of what a fairly rich Chinese city outside of Beijing was like. Our tickets for the bus arrived a little later for our trip to Laos, apparently the was a 14 hour bus ride, having looked at the map we thought the bus might be able to fly, or perhaps Laos was very flat with wide motorways?
The two days in Kunming was relaxing and it felt like spring having been in icy Beijing. Now for the bus ride ahead of us. We found our bus station with ease and with a little help boarded our full and interesting bus, with time to spare we had a quick look around for snacks and drinks. The bus station was full of vendors and the toilets were somewhat special. Open plan both in drainage and facilities, with enough more flies than people.
Our pleasure to ride a new variety of sleeper bus! The Laos variety; we were once more placed in the very back of the bus, this time on the bottom bunks, meaning sitting up was impossible for the trip and lying down was not feasible either as the bunks were around 1m too short. The trip promised to be painful
As the trip went on through the night the Chinese ignored the non smoking signs and while we could open our windows it was disgusting. The smell of 30 odd bodies in the bus made for an interesting smell as did the various snacks and drinks they were eating. Intermittent stops through the night made space for some of the bus passengers to light their Opium pipes and purge themselves. Hacking and spitting was common place throughout the night. Eventually we found ourselves at the Chinese border for around 7am. The border was to open at 8:30 so we waited outside and watched the ceremonial border opening. The border crossing was somewhat surreal. On the Chinese side it was very well manicured and groomed, the houses in pretty much impeccable condition, the Laos side, near the village of Borten was jungle and huts.
The border crossing behind us – or so we thought and onwards ho! Not so fast!!! The village ofBorten had a secondary control space and our bus was subject to a 4 hour inspection and wait as the Chinese goods in the bus as well as their luggage was checked and scrutinized. Borten is pretty small and I don’t advise booking a trip there
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The bus journey from here on in was hair raising in parts and simply put: Stunning. Sheer drops, river valleys carving their way through them, jungle vegetation lining the drop offs from the roads and the picturesque huts in the perched precariously on the slopes. Pot belly pigs, chickens and ducks, small children and threshing were all on the road making the bus ride very slow- in addition to the very steep roads and tight bends. The bus ride was amazing, despite our horizontal positions and very sweaty bus colleagues.
Arriving at 9 pm to Luang Prabang we treated ourselves to a large Beer Laos which seems to have alternate strengths depending on the bottles. Then we wandered around to find accommodation and food. We found some very reasonable accommodation with a shared shower for 80, 000 KIP per night which was very comfy while others decided to take the first best offer and paid more. MT

Luang Prabang 9th – 12th Feb
After a horrendously character building bus trip from China, arrival into Luang Prabang was like discovering that you do actually have a tub of Haagen Dazs hidden in the freezer after all. The boys wanted to get straight on a bus to Vang Vieng the next day, however Mark and I decided we wanted to spend some time in this gorgeous town. By far my favourite place in Asia so far (big statement, I know), I will try to summarise the reasons why:
• Stunning location set in tropical jungle clad hills and rocky outcrops
• Compact town with a mixture of beautiful old French colonial buildings and local bamboo huts
• The hidden idyllic temples throughout the town often surrounded by tropical flowers around every corner justify its place as a World heritage site
• The Mekong tributary is clean and full of local children playing in the rapids
• Coffee shops with cakes, pastries and coffee so good they make their Parisian culinary counterparts look like amateurs
• Street stalls selling all kinds of yummy food from sweet potato, BBQ fish, local spiced dishes and even baguettes stuffed with Nutella, about 50p for a meal
• Perfect balmy weather and lots of cool shady hideaways if needed
• No one hassles you to buy anything, rather you get politely asked once, then get a smile
• EVERYONE SMILES
• Big colourful butterflies glide around effortlessly
• The most laid back atmosphere I have ever experienced
• Massages for £3
• EVERYONE SMILES
Mark and I had a fabulous few days here, playing in stunning waterfalls the colour of turquoise, cycling around on granny bikes and indulging in squidgy cake and fresh coffee watching the very relaxed world go by. I love this place so much! On the note of the waterfall, we hiked up to the top and noticed a few people going down a path which said “Danger, do not enter” which of course was an invitation to explore further…
After scrambling down some rocks we found a beautiful untouched pool of water which provided the flow into the top of the waterfall. As the current was not strong we were able to lie on the top of the waterfall on the edge and wave at the concerned/bemused onlookers some 30m below…it was fun!!
Mark will hopefully write about his new admiration for cockerels and fill in the gaps of my rather dreamy entry… JG

We left Luang Prabang by bus, and thoroughly enjoyed the 5 hour journey down to Vang Vieng, which seemed like a walk in the park compared to previous journey lengths. The striking scenery beyond the winding mountain roads consisted of tropical vegetation, tiny bamboo villages, girls riding home on bicycles holding their umbrellas (smiling of course), pot bellied pigs, boys pushing each other down hills on bamboo carts, rice harvesting and the overbearing depth of the jungle stretching far into the distance. JG



Vang Vieng
Is apparently a synonym for debauchery and hedonism, it could not be more different from LP. We arrived a day after Bart, Oli and Feline, having decided that it was simply too soon to leave Luang Prabang. Our bus ride was great, a nice mini bus for the two of us through the mountains once more- the drivers here are somewhat more safety conscious that we have experienced elsewhere in Asia, making the ride feel safe and relaxing. We had a good dose of local pop and rock music which seems to be largely ripped off from western rock and R’n’B with the painful addition of pitiful whining singers in the background.
Having spoken to some girls from the Isle of Wight before leaving, we took their advice and on arrival went to The Otherside. Crossing a rickety bridge to huts on the river banks, this space has around 20 huts on it, with the awesome backdrop of the mountains making it extremely relaxing; this is more of what I had expected to be living in! Pottering around the first day was great fun and an early night meant we were ready for a good day of fun the next when we went tubing
Tubing… well … hmm.. its great fun. We met a great couple on the way who were at the end of their trip on a very similar route to ours in reverse who made good conversation about what we would expect where.- the bus rides and the things to see in South America wetting my appetite for that stage of the trip. Then we arrived at the first bar. Having a first beer we looked at the perhaps 12 meter swing and decided it was a must having watched a good number of people swing and jump into the water. The adrenaline of climbing the tree and standing at the top holding onto the trapeze was eclipsed by the immense rush of flying through the air and then into the deep water, pretty much every bar down the river had this kind of opportunity, with either swings, massive slides or zip wires into the water, as you get progressively more daring even the highest ones are a doddle to do. We managed to get from one bar to the 8th bar as we danced and partied our way down the river. Sat on the tubes we floated around small rapids and downstream to another bar where we were fished out of the water by bar people. Each bar had something fun about them- bar the slides and swings, one had a great monkey who took great delight in drinking our redbull and vodka bucket and then picked out the fleas from Oli- refusing to be stroked by anyone else it seems. Oli found a new friend… Other bars had mud baths that smelt horrific, but obviously for the same reason as the monkey- losing the fleas non? The tubes (inner tubes from trucks) kind of went missing at the end of the day- some buggers nicked them and we lost our deposits, somewhat annoying.
Heading back could have been easy down the river- but we stayed a little too late and had to take a tuk tuk back- I think the driver must have really hated us. We sang Queen, Jerusalem and a couple other songs and versions of songs we made up as we headed into town. Joined by some other brits, Canadians and dutch the noise we made was deafening and possibly quite horrid, I think Bohemian Rhapsody has never been sung so badly.
Arriving in town for more fun and games, we had some dinner and then as there is a “strict” curfew of midnight, headed out for some dancing and meeting more random travelling folk in similar state of mind…
Our second attempt at tubing was somewhat more successful, Jen and I shared a tube and floated/paddled down river avoiding rocks and sometimes massaging none to gently my backside in shallower areas. It took a little while and we ended up walking the last segment, and might still have the rubber tube...