Had a lazy morning, went for breakfast at one of the numerous baguette stands near the market. They all sell the same thing; crusty baguette's with a variety of fillings & fruit shakes, and they all charge the same price. I opted for the keenest lady behind the counter. That afternoon we managed to negotiate a good price for a tuk tuk to take us to a waterfall (Kuang Si falls). Wow it was stunning! The most beautiful waterfall I've ever seen! Beautiful turquoise water, several levels to climb up. Amazing! On the way back to the entrance, there was a bear sanctuary. I've never seen an actual bear before. They looked cute but the electric fences told me otherwise. After watching them for a while, we headed back to LP. Later we went to the night market again for food. Then we decided to go to the bowling alley (as you do!). The drinking laws are quite strict in Laos in that all bars close at 11.30pm. In LP the bowling alley is the only place to go for after hours drinking (a 15 min tuk tuk ride away). For some reason we decided to go before the bars shut, so when we arrived it was fairly quiet. We had a good laugh playing bowling, our group having now expanded to about 20 people, with others joining us from the guesthouse. We got 2 tuk tuks back into LP, our drivers having a race to see who could get there first! Funny!
Back at the guesthouse we had bought beers from the local shop & sat on the communal tables out the front. It was about 10pm so not too late. Next thing the guy, our 'friend' who had met us & taken us to the accommodation (let's just call him Bob as I can't remember his name) came out and handed one of the guys an A4 document containing the laws of Laos. We weren't being noisy, just chatting & having a quiet beer. So I asked Bob (as until now he had been really friendly with us) if everything was ok, were we in trouble & he just blanked me. I'd literally had half a can of beer all night so I wasn't drunk but he wouldn't speak to me! His face was like thunder. Laos people are known for being friendly & laid back.... this guy was anything but. The laws said something about not being drunk & disorderly and not making noise after 11pm. We weren't doing either. I went to bed not long after.
Next day I got up at 5am as I wanted to watch the Tak Bat. This is a ceremony which takes place every morning in LP where people give alms (mainly food) to the monk's. Whatever they don't eat they give to the homeless. It was nice to see albeit if the Chinese tourist's were standing in front of the monk's faces taking photos. So disrespectful. I went back to bed for a bit. Then later after brunch, myself & Elke hired pushbikes & cycled around the city. So beautiful here. We stopped for a drink & just as well as the heavens opened. This has been a theme whilst I've been in Laos but then it is the rainy season! We gave up on the bikes & decided to go for a massage at the Red Cross Centre. Lovely :) Went to the night market again (rude not to when it's so good & cheap!). We went back to the guesthouse around 9pm so really not late, and again the lovely Bob handed us the same document. What an arse. We decided we didn't want to be killed by his death stare and went to Utopia bar. Cool bar where you leave your shoes at the entrance and sit on the comfy cushions. Shisha optional. And they have a volleyball court out the back! Unfortunately it shut at 11.30pm so I headed to bed.
I decided that I was leaving today as I really wanted to see as much of Laos as possible, even though I could quite easily have stayed. We had tried to book a trek with a local guy but it didn't happen so I decided to go on my merry way to Vientiane (the capital of Laos). I booked a night bus for 6.30pm. The day was fairly leisurely but this was the day Bob finally lost the plot. He'd been an arse all day. Elka sked him nicely if she could move into another room with some of the guys who were already in there. You would have thought she'd asked him the most complicated thing in the world. She got the death stare so I asked him if it was a problem. He muttered 'no'. Then there was a bit of confusion with 2 girls who were booking bus tickets to Vietnam through him and one decided she didn't want the ticket as she found it cheaper somewhere else. Well he was effing and blinding at her. I didn't see this but Elka thought he was going to hit the girl. We walked away with the 2 girls, no longer wanting to be near him & next thing he is beside us having followed us on his bike! This time I saw the full outburst, he was swearing & shouting at her & threatening to go to the bus station as he knew what time she was leaving. The girl was really calm and didn't rise to him. What a you know what!!!!!
That afternoon myself & Elka visited the Palace museum & walked up a hill to a temple (only half way as we didn't want to pay!). Back at the guesthouse I collected my things & said bye to everyone. I hate saying goodbye's anyway and travelling is terrible for it.... always staying bye to people you've spent a lot of time with & get to know really well. Anyway one of the guys (Billy) had a guitar & played some goodbye songs. So lovely. Such a great bunch of people I'd spent time with here. Caught a tuk tuk to the bus station.... only to meet a girl who had been on my slow boat! Again this was a theme for Laos. Everyone is doing a similar route so you bang into people all the time. It's like meeting an old friend! The journey was long & very bumpy & windy. It rained a lot too. Finally after 12 hours on the bus, I arrived into a rainy Vientiane.
No comments:
Post a Comment