Thursday, March 1, 2012

Luang Pra-peace out!

2/29/12:

Our last day here was spent being a little lazy. The goal of today was to figure out our onward travel for tomorrow, work on our budget and look at some travel options for later down the road. Oh and get a foot massage for the Mrs.

Our hotel came with breakfast so we grubbed it up a then hung around our room and hotel for a bit. We notice a 3.5 legged goat the other day and asked the lady who owns the hotel about it. Apparently she and some friends saw the goat being mistreated and decide to save it. They pooled their money together and bought it but when they went to pick it up the seller hurt the goat. This led to her giving birth prematurely which resulted in her 2 baby goats not making it. But luckily the mama goat is doing well and has all the grass she can eat. Sorta makes me happy to know there are animal lovers everywhere.

Later we went for a walk and found a cafe with free wifi so we looked at some travel options and hung out. A major problem I'm finding with Laos is the lack of information or the lack of update information. For instance bus fares from Luang prabang to Vang Vieng are about 80000 kip on one site but almost 130000 kip on another. Who knows which is correct cause neither are dated. There are also 3 types of bus that travel that route but none of the websites can agree on times. So we ended up price comparing at a few travel agents in town (just like Thailand they're everywhere) and found that 115000 is the cheapest around.

When we arrived in Luang Prabang I mentioned the only thing I really wanted to do is have a meal on the river. Well it hadn't happened yet and after seeing some friends and making dinner plans for later it didn't seem like it was in the cards. No worries though, my fabulous wife took us to a small cafe on the Mekong for a couple drinks and a smashing view!!! Touchdown Carolyn!!!!!!

I think we may have mentioned this before but on journeys like this you meet some really great people from all over the planet. We met 2 wonderful ladies in Koh Phagnan from Scotland, and 2 awesome couples in Chiang Mai (from NYC and BC Canada). Luang Prabang was no different. We met a bunch of people on the boat journey but were lucky enough to hook up with 3 of them a couple times over the last few days. Jim from San Francisco and Sarah and Charles from Bath, England. Had dinner tonight with Sarah and Charles at a place called The pizza and some drinks afterwards. Great times with great people!

On to Vang Vieng tomorrow at 0900. We booked the minibus through our hotel so hopefully it all goes smoothly. We've read that you shouldn't do the trip on a full stomach because of how windy the road is. We shall see.

Pic 1: view from our riverside cafe.
Pic 2: Laos flag on left, communist flag on right outside the Luang prabang hygiene and epidemiology clinic.

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