The Difference Between Travel and Vacation

When you're on vacation, you usually schedule your transportation logistics beforehand...
When you're travelling, you get unceremoniously ushered off a bus half-awake at 6 in the morning and left to find a pick-up truck to take you to the village that is your intended destination.

When you're on vacation, a layover usually means two hours spent at an airport...
When you're travelling a layover is walking 3 KMs with all your gear to find a hostel to sleep at for 5 hours before taking the early bus out of town.


When you're on vacation, you take the extra few hours in the morning to sleep in because, gosh darnit, you've earned it...
When you're travelling, you set the alarm for 4:45 to catch sunrise over the mountain/beach/valley/etc. where you are staying.

When you're on vacation, you are taking a little bit of time off from the "real world"...
When you're travelling, you have a hard time convincing yourself that what you're currently doing should not in fact be your constant reality.

With that in mind, let's recap our (little less than) week visiting the village of Champasak, the 4,000 islands of the Mekong River, and the Kang Lo cave.

We took a night bus from Vientiane to Pakse, the transport hub to the southernmost travel locations in Laos and then the pick-up to Champasak village.  What brought us to Champasak was Vat Phou - an old Khmer temple ruin site that may have been the blueprint for Angkor Wat.  We rented a pair of bicycles from our guesthouse to ride over to the temple site.  The temple grounds, though nowhere as grand or preserved as Angkor Wat, did make for an interesting visit as we were able to identify some architectural and design similarities between Vat Phou and the Khmer temples in Siem Reap and because climbing up to the upper terrace of the site gave us great views of the villages below.  Unfortunately, on the ride back, Avi's back tire popped out of alignment and so we were forced to ride 2-person on our remaining functional bike.

The Grassy Walkway Up To the Vat Phou Ruins

The Vat Phou Temple Ruins

Walking Up To the Top Terrace

The Shrine At the Top

The View From the Top Terrace

No Man Left Behind - Rach Rode On the Back Cushion
While Avi Labored to Get Us Back To the Guesthouse

After our day in Champasak, we rode town to Si Phan Don (meaning 4,000 islands), the archipelago of islands at the southern tip of Laos's stretch of the Mekong River.  We stayed on Don Det, the most developed island of the 4,000.  We spent our time relaxing, riding bikes, spotting fresh-water irrawaddy dolphins, and re-immersing ourselves in American culture by watching movies at one of the bar/restaurants.

Here are a few shots of local life on Don Det:

Rice Fields On Don Det

Haggling Over Goods

Playing Soccer/Volleyball

Local Kids Plowing the Fields

And One Kid Who Got the Night Off

This Man Gave Us An Impromptu Fortune Telling Based
On Our Birth Years

Some Foliage

And here is some of the fun we had:

Sunset On Don Det

On the Boat Searching For Dolphins

A Dolphin Siting - We Saw Better Than We Photographed

Here's What the Irrawaddy Dolphins Actually Look Like
(Photo Taken From the Net)

Oh Yeah - Cribbage At the Bar!

And the Most Epic Game of Jenga Ever

After 2+ days on Don Det, we took the 11 AM ferry shuttle back to Pakse and then a bus to Thakhek, the nearest city to the Kong Lo cave.  We got to Thakhek around midnight and to our guesthouse about an hour and a half later (see above) and caught a few short hours of sleep prior to taking a minivan out to the cave around 7:30 AM.  We got to the cave around noon and spent about 3 hours there.  We then took a minivan to a bus back to Vientiane, arriving there around 10 PM - just in time to grab dinner and find another crash pad for the night.  So during the 37 hours from when we left the islands to when we got to sleep in Vientiane (almost midnight the next day) we logged about 24 hours of transport, 10 or so hours of sleeping, 3 hours touring, and one delicious meal back at the Indian restaurant in Vientiane... we are definitely NOT on vacation.

Now as for the cave itself, it was phenomenal!  Tham Kong Lo (Kong Lo cave) is a 7.5 KM tunnel through a limestone mountain.  The motorboat ride through the cave and back, including a walk through some trippily-lit stalactite and stalagmite formations, takes around 3 hours.  You spend most of that time in absolute darkness, save for the beams of light emitted from your and your boat-mates' flashlights.  The cave's roof  reaches cathedralesque heights in some of the chambers and the thought of wading through these large halls that are bearing the weight of the entire mountain is both terrifying and thrilling.  It was also really dark, which is why we took only a few pictures:

Hanging In the Cave

And the Kooky Lights Inside

Good Morning Vientiane

Sorry, we resisted the temptation for this title all the way through Vietnam, but we had to get it out of our system...

We opted to fly into Laos from Hanoi (best decision ever) and after a short 55 minute flight we landed in Wattay International Airport in Vientiane.  The city treated us well over the three short days we spent there.  If Vientiane feels like a small town masquerading as a real city it's because at less than a million people it kinda actually is one.  One can see the burgeoning signs of a metropolis popping up all around, but the city has maintained enough of its slow-paced atmosphere and charm to appear quaint yet on-the-move.  One of the major indicators of development is the ubiquitous presence of construction scaffolding and plastic sheets - a new conference center is being built and the fountain area in the city-center is being renovated to accommodate a new high-end restaurant.  However, the clash of the old with new, far from being a depressing march towards lifeless commercial growth, has created some amusing juxtapositions.  For example, the newly-built mall complex is still under partial construction and many shops - including large electronics suppliers - have spilled over into the serpentine corridors of the old market building smashed up right next to its newer replacement.  This means that you can be browsing digital cameras and LCD TVs only to turn the corner and find a shopkeeper happily passed out inside a stall offering traditional tapestries and other chintzy souvenirs.  This rise towards modernism while still clinging on to small-town roots gives Vientiane both the exciting buzz of development as well as nostalgic charm.

A Book Stall At the Old Market Building

We started off everyday in almost the same fashion with a visit to one of several outstanding bakeries/cafes located around the city center.  After properly fueling up, we set out to explore the city.  On our first day, we took the walk along Lane Xang Avenue over to Patuxai park to check out Laos's victory monument that is shaped kind of like a miniature Arc de Triomphe.  The monument is only about 7 or 8 stories high, but since it appears to be the tallest structure in Vientiane, it affords sweeping views of the city and the park surrounding it.

Victory Monument At Patuxai

Patuxai Park Seen From Above

The next day we headed over to the other end of Lane Xang Ave to see the Presidential Palace as well as a temple called Wat Sisaket.  The temple was small, but made for a nice quick visit.  We then took a local minibus over to Buddha Park, a long field on the Mekong's banks that has been populated with statues of Buddhist and Hindu deities, including a large, reclining Buddha.          

The Presidential Palace

Wat Sisaket

A Statue At the Wat

The Grounds of Buddha Park

A Reclining Buddha Statue At the Park

Avi Sitting In the Mouth of Hell

Hanging Out With Some of the Deities At the Park

We wrapped up our final day by renting bikes and riding on over to Pha That Luang - a golden stupa and temple complex that doubles as Laos's most important national monument.

The Golden Stupa At Pha That Luang

Some More Shots Around the Complex

Street Food Update:


We didn't really eat on the street since Vientiane has way too many delicious French, Indian, and other international restaurants, but the food was so good that we had to post some pics:

Croissant and Bagel From Scandinavian Bakery

French Fries, Ratatouille, and Roquefort Pasta

And some of the best Indian food we've ever had.  Gobi Manchurian (spicy cauliflower) on the left, eggplant curry on the right, and garlic naan below:

And Of Course We Found a Chocolate
Pancake/Crepe At the Night Market

Wrapping Up Vietnam: Halong Bay and Sapa

Halong City As Seen From Our Boat

We used Hanoi as a base for two different trips - one to Halong Bay and one to the town of Sapa and its surrounding villages.  The landscape of Halong Bay wavered from beautiful to majestic, depending on how much sun was shining at any given moment.  We opted for a 3-day/2-night tour with one night spent on our boat and the other in a hotel on Cat Ba Island.  We spent our time sailing across the bay, kayaking, visiting beaches, caves, and floating villages, bike riding through the Cat Ba nature preserve, hanging out with the rest of our tour group, and eating entirely waaaaay too much fried food.  Apparently, our chef equated vegetarian food with french fries, fried coconut and tarro cakes, and the occasional stir-fried vegetable.  The haute cuisine notwithstanding, we had a great time swimming, kayaking, and sailing our way through the clear green waters and limestone islands.

We'll split the photologue of Halong Bay into two pieces.  The first is the majestic scenery:

Your Basic Halong Bay View

A Nice Shot of the Teal-Green Waters Below Cloudy Skies

Fishing and Other Non-Tourist Boats On the Bay

Night On the Bay

A Floating Village

 

Cat Ba Island

And here's a series of our "Action Shots" from the tour:

Enjoying the View

Kayaking On the Bay

Hiking in Cat Ba Island

The day of our return from Halong Bay we took the night train East-Northeast to Sapa - a highland town surrounded by many ethnic villages.  We spent three days hiking through and around the villages and got to witness some authentic and some less-than-authentic rural living.  Our tour guide, Bee, is a member of the Hmong people and is the best English-speaking guide we've had yet.  She told us about life in her village, Lao Chai, discussing religious beliefs - the village is split between those who believe in Animism and good ole fashioned Catholics; the economics of the mostly sustenance farming practiced by the villagers; and how the village got electricity only three years ago.  The less-than-authentic aspect of the tour comprised of the traditionally garbed women that followed us along the way only to hound us with offerings of textiles at every break (yes we caved... quite a few times), and our "homestay" in the village of Tavan, which turned out to be another guesthouse, but was saved by the friendly couples that stayed there with us and by the charming village in which it was located.

The Town of Sapa Seen From the Hike Down Into the Valley

Overlooking the Terraced Rice Paddies In the Village

Our Guide's Home In Lao Chai Village

                 Some More Shots of the Beautiful Countryside

Hmong Women In Traditional Indigo Clothing

The Indigo Used to Dye the Hmong Clothing

What Happens When You Agree to Buy Something

A Red Dzay Tribeswoman

Not Your Everyday Door-Front Pets

Clockwise From Top to Bottom:  Avi and Rach Overlooking the Valley; Avi Walking Through the Rice Terraces; Avi and Rach Posing Near the Waterfall in Cat Cat Village; Rach Walking Through the Rice Terraces;  Resting Atop a Waterfall;  Avi Walking Through Cat Cat Village

A Tavan Villager Fishing In the River

Our Homestay Group

The Mountainous Landscape Around Sapa

Women Working In the Rice Terraces

Avi Walking Next to Our Guide Bee

Now it's off to Laos.