· On the tourist route between Vientiane and Luang Prabang is the very touristy town of Vang Vieng. It’s like a dream here. It has really huge mountains, rivers, caves, rice fields. It’s so pretty and green. Only here one night though. We have to break up the trip between Vientiane and Luang Prabang! The bus ride up here was very bumpy, it had no suspension on it and I kept jumping off my seat.
As soon as we got here we checked into a resort by the Nam Seung River and stayed in a bungalow. We hired a guide for 12 Euros each to take us to a couple caves. The caves were really cool, they were about 14km out of town. We drove for a bit but then had to take a motorboat up the river to get to the caves. The first one was called Elephant Cave. It was really cool, it’s called Elephant cave because of a rock formation in there shaped like an elephant. The elephant is the national animal of Laos so a lot of people come here especially during Lao New Year to worship Buddha in the temple set up in the cave.
The 2nd one was very big, it was pitch black. I can't actually remember the official name of it but the guide was referring to it as the "love cave" after a boy and a girl who visited the caves on a school trip got trapped in there for a week, became friends and fell in love and later on married each other. We had to wear head torches and it’s the rainy season so it was really slippery. That cave was used as a hiding place for hundreds of Lao people during the Vietnam War. I got so dirty, it was so muddy. I ended up just taking my shoes off and walking around in bare feet. When we came out of that cave, Steph and I realised that we were both covered in mud from head to toe. Strangely enough, I actually enjoyed getting my hands dirty! It’s not something I would normally do!
After that we went to visit a Mong village. It’s a minority tribe from the north who were sent to live in Vang Vieng. It was interesting. The families here are really big. The guide was telling us there is usually the man of the house who he has about 6 or 7 wives and each wife has about 6 or 7 kids and they all live together in houses made out of bamboo. The first wife is the boss of all the other ones and all the women have to work on the farm while the man just does nothing. They shower and clean everything in the river as well. They also have their own language.
The restaurants here are all set up for tourists (mainly backpackers). For a lot of the restaurants here, instead of proper tables and chairs, you have your meals traditional Lao style - on the floor! Ok, so it’s not actually as bad as you think. You get to sit on cushions on a platform and have a small table in front of you. Here is where I introduced Steph to Larb, the national dish of Laos which is a "salad" of minced meat, herbs, lime juice and lots of chillis!! I stuck to my favourite Lao style Papaya Salad "Tum Maak Hung." It’s similar to the Thai Papaya salad except they add this ingredient called "Pa Dak" which is a fish paste which makes it taste a lot stronger. It’s usually a lot spicier than the Thai version as well.
It was flooding here a few days before we arrived. We would have loved to have gone "tubing" on the river (one of the must do's here in Vang Vieng) but unfortunately the river was too rough. I'd definitely come back here in the dry season though! There's still so much to explore!
