and even more waterfalls

22Jun
Well got off to Louang Probang. It was reasonably ok bus journey, as most of us had seats to ourselves. I had my ipod on for most of the 7hr journey. It was really nice. Haven’t really listened much to my ipod and was sorry I brought it (extra weight), but I guess it is nice to have every now and then, especially for long journeys. At one stage this Greek music came on my ipod, the tune they mostly play in Greek restaurants or bars etc. Memories of my time in Poros (Greek Island) and Irish dancing to Greek music (as you do…) with Janet and Moira came flooding back. And of course my sojourns in Vass. Ah yes what weeks they were.

Bus journey was uneventful except when the driver decided to overtake a tanker stuck on this winding uphill road. The bus got stuck. Some people had already got off the bus and when the bus swerved past the tanker, a few people started to panic and insisted they get off. The rest of us got off then, as it got stuck anyway. There was loads of space for the bus to maneuver but the ground was really soft on the curve so the wheels go stuck. Eventually all was well and we trundled off.
In LP, Yaniv, bumped into Carlos (Yaniv does a lot of bumping into people) and then we all met and went to dinner. It was a superb evening and such a laugh, as we swapped pick up lines, expletives and phrases in Portuguese, Spanish, English and Hebrew and what ever other language came to mind. We said our goodbyes to Carlos again, as he was heading off to Bangkok the next day.
23Jun I stayed in bed most of the morning and just pottered about, went to see the National museum which was so much more well kept than the one in Vientiane. Bizarre. Louang Prabang is a beautiful city. It was the capital previously and is much wealthier, cleaner and well maintained than Vientiane. Everything is pretty and in a very French colononial style. Went to a very posh restaurant for dinner as I really fancied this duck dish then off to bed as I was still tired.
24Jun. In the afternoon, I met Andrew and Sandy, 2 Scots lads we met on the bus and shared a tuk tuk to the waterfall. On getting to the waterfall, the sky deluged so we ate lunch. As we started to climb up the waterfall the weather cleared. The waterfall was a lovely multi-teered waterfall with some pools for swimming so swam under/behind the water curtain. It was cool and hit the spot nicely. We got a flat on the way back and our tuk tuk driver deftly switched the spare tire. Obviously a frequent occurrence, along this dirt track. Went for a siesta, then headed to the Hmong night market. Bought a few trinkets and then got some food from the stalls. For 5000 Kip you can fill your plate with a selection of food and sit along some benches. There was also some barbequed meat and fish. I got some local sausage and chicken and sat near 2 Dutch girls (Daniela and Maureen). They were amused when I used a Dutch word (Lecher (sorry for spelling Robert)) in response to their question on the tastiness of my sausage (Now if I was a boy….). So we ended up chatting for a couple of hours again swapping stories and language phrases and had a hoot.

I was dying of thirst as hadn’t anything to drink whilst eating, so on the way home I left the Dutch girls carry on, as they had an early flight. I stopped at a bar and watched the game between Germany and Sweden. This is a first for me. Going to a bar, ordering a beer and watching footie. Now I am seriously worried about myself.
As it happened, Andrew and Sandy were there too, so joined me at the bar. Germany won 2 nil, in case anyone is interested or didn’t know. The Scots leave tomorrow too. They are just starting uni in Sep. Bless…
25Jun. I feel kind of sad booking my ticket out of LP today. I really like it here. When I come back to Asia, I will come to Laos again as there is something really special about it.
But I go bus back to Vientiane tomorrow, then bus on to Bangkok, then fly via Bahrain to London. 3 days of traveling, oh the joy. Will have to charge my ipod and get my blowup pillow.
See some of you soon. Love S