Unedifying as that was, it was thankfully soon forgotten as the scenery became increasingly spectacular. Limestone crags pushed up all around us. Jagged peaks like a bad dentistry job needing serious work done. From a distance the crags seemed to be swathed in dark green moss but these were actually trees, jungle thick. Not even the stomach grumbles signalling the onset of 'traveller's tummy' could detract from the beauty of this countryside. And there was even more of it on display when we finally reached a toilet to ease my discomfort. Except the view was through the non-existent fourth wall of the toilet cubicle. Pleasant enough until the odd photo hungry tourist started to wander by. Not sure who was more embarrassed, me or them!
And so to our arrival in Vang Vieng. It was accompanied by some off key singing from our local tour guide, Tuoi, who had already run the full gamut of the Michael Jackson and Celine Dion back catalogue. Seriously. It was painful to behold. With nothing left in his 80s repertoire Tuoi invented his own song to announce our arrival. So a bunch of slightly embarrassed tourists found themselves singing 'Welcome to Vang Vieng, welcome to Vang Vieng, all natural and smiling' without knowing what it really meant. Sadly, despite the musical welcome I instantly knew it was a town that was not for me. As we drove to our hotel there were nothing but bars, restaurants and guesthouses in sight. There wasn't a traditional shop or market stall anywhere to be seen.
A quick look in the guidebook revealed why. Vang Vieng had become the party capital of Laos when young backpackers flocked to take part in the 'tubing' scene. Tubing involves jumping onto a tractor inner tube and floating down the local river, stopping at each of the numerous riverside bars to down shots and get themselves body painted. The result? Streets full of drunken, wet, body painted tourists in skimpy bikinis, much to the disgust of the offended locals. And local bars springing up to cater for their drinking needs. But a wander down the town's one street in the early evening was eerily quiet and very few other tourists were around. Later that evening we discovered the tubing scene was no more. After a number of drunken tourists had drowned in the river and the locals complained about the indecent behaviour of visitors the local government had closed the riverside bars down and suddenly there were less tourists in town. Which is a shame as it was obvious that the surrounding countryside offered a whole host of 'adventure tourism' options - biking, hiking, caving, trekking. Some of this was already being touted but the town has some way go to reinvent itself and bring the visitors flooding back.
For the Ginger Broad and I our one day in the town brought a welcome chance to lie in then try out the spa just opened in a new hotel down the road. So it was a 2.5 hour herbal sauna, hot oil body scrub and aromatherapy massage for me at the grand total of £27. What a deal. The day ended with a meal at the local bakery and drinks next door at a small, indie bar with some live music and an amusing chat with a drunk Jamie Bamber lookalike who was trying to restart the tubing scene with some illegal bars at the river. Give it up son, it's not worth it.
The next morning, with a sigh of relief we left Vang Vieng behind us and headed to the Lao capital, Ventiane. It was an early start as we were keen to race the other Intrepid group, doing a Bangkok to Hanoi trip, to the next hotel. There had been some subterfuge the night before as we casually told the others that we'd be leaving at about 8.30 knowing full well we off at 7.30. We left them still breakfasting as our coach sped away, knowing this time we'd get the best hotel rooms. Petty? Yep, that's us.
Ventiane is probably the most relaxed capital city I've ever been to. Admittedly we only saw a tiny fraction of it but the people live life at a slow pace without any of the stressed out bustle of European capitals. That said, after weeks in smaller towns the amount of traffic on the streets was a bit daunting as hundreds of scooters sped by, ignoring most of the usual rules of the road. Getting across the main roads involved playing chicken with the scooters but Sam assured us that this was all good training for the mayhem that we'd find in Hanoi.
Our only scheduled event for the day was a visit to COPE - the Cooperative Orthotic Prosthetic Enterprise - which was initially set up to help provide prosthetic limbs for the hundreds of Laotians who are injured by unexplored ordinance dropped by the US during the 'Secret War'. My grasp of this section of history is hazy at best but as the US struggled with the battle for power between North and South Vietnam, they decided that blanket bombing large sections of Laos would disrupt the supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh trail. So between 1964 and 1973 over 2 million tonnes of bombs were dropped on the innocent Lao population. That's apparently equivalent to one plane dropping bombs every eight minutes for over 9 years. Sobering statistics. And large numbers of these bombs, including cluster bombs, lay hidden and unexploded in the Lao countryside. Adults and children alike have stumbled across them and been killed or injured and there's also an expanding black market for the scrap metal that can be salvaged from therm encouraging impoverished locals to risk their lives. So the work of COPE in providing prosthetic limbs is still, sadly, much in demand. The visitor's centre was fascinating, horrific and inspiring in equal measure. The group stuffed some dollars into the donation box and left in angry, disturbed silence.
After that we only really had half a day in Ventiane so the Ginger Broad, myself and a couple of the other girls decided we need a top up on our temple habit. So it was off to Wat Sisaket, the oldest temple in the city, built in 1818. By now most temples are starting to look the same but this one did have an impressive collection of Buddhas of all sizes lining the walls of the cloisters. While many were pretty bashed up, after numerous sackings of the city, they are still revered and cared for - each wrapped in it's own gold band of cloth. The once private Buddhist temple of the Lao King was our next destination although it's now a museum of art and antiquities. The collection itself was a bit underwhelming especially as there weren't many labels to tell you what you were looking at but the venue has it's own interesting history. It was once the home of the Pha Kaew, or Emerald Buddha, that we'd seen in Bangkok not long ago. The statue had been stolen by the Siamese back in 1779 and never returned, much to the chagrin of the Lao Buddhists. As a Brit I can't really judge them. If the British Museum returned everything we had pilfered over the years, there would be a very large empty property available for rent in Bloomsbury.
Our final stop in Ventiane was That Luang. Which Luang? That one. (Apologies - my jokes do not get any better). This huge golden stupa is considered Lao's most important religious building and has become its national symbol. I'm sure it's very impressive. Unfortunately we arrived just as it was locking up for lunch. Something our tuk-tuk driver curiously omitted to mention. Still we wandered the walls and took a few snaps from a distance so we sort of saw it.
But there was no time for regrets as we were leaving Laos behind us to head to Vietnam. I have really enjoyed our time in Laos, the country I knew least about. It's a beautiful country of contrasts and I just wish we had more time to explore its remoter regions. For now though it's good night Laos and good morning Vietnam.
Photos below: the group on the road to Vang Vieng (with a couple of interlopers); cluster bombs at the COPE centre; That Luang stupa
It sounds like an interesting trip. It is such a shame that tourism in the region seems to relate to supporting backpackers - it certainly wouldn't make me want to visit. I hope that they do manage to create a better tourist model for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe temple looks amazing and I look forward to Vietnam....oh and I think it's hilarious that you were racing the other Intrepid group for the best hotel room!