Hello people, “sawadeee” – and greetings from Laos!! Here is the update from the last few weeks!
Last time I updated, we had just taken part in the Songkram festival in Chiang Mai and since then there are plenty more stories to update you guys on…
Touching a tiger… as I’m sure many of you have seen my pictures on facebook . you would have seen me and Adam having some fun with a load of tigers, where you can get up close and personal…yes I can now tick off spooning a tiger on my things to do before I die list… It was an amazing experience even if the generic response from everyone is that the tigers must be sedated…something I can’t answer as it all seems too good to be true…however you can pay the trainers to wake the cats up and get some better snaps with them…but seeing it asleep and not moving is something I think I prefer than seeing its giant paws slashing my legs open…either way they make for some awesome pictures!
My future c.v will now include “volunteering with an elephant camp” – so this might be a little exaggerated as this work was only a 3 day experience; however me and Adam took part in something that most tourists do not get a chance to do…and this is actually working with the elephants instead of simply riding them on a one day treck…sooo this meant that me and Adam were expected to clean up heaps of elephant shit…go out into the corn fields and harvest the crops and then wash all the elephants in the river at stupid o clock in the morning. – oh and learning how to speak thai commands to the elephants whilst riding them...and as a treat on the last night our accommodation was an open fronted bamboo shack that was right next to a river which is used for white water rafting…a quiet and tranquil experience?? – The excursion was topped off with more white water rafting. Now when we did white water rafting in New Zealand our guide was over cautious on health and safety and ensuring all the rafters knew how to steer the boat…well in Asia these standards are a little more relaxed shall we say and for a good amount of the time Adam was allowed to be the person in charge of the raft whilst the instructor put his feet up…not surprising then that I actually fell in when it came to the serious rapids and ended up flailing around like a drowning legless cat…
Laos…so now we are in Laos where it is more expensive to buy a packet of Peaut m&m’s than it is for a main meal and a litre of beer or a nights accomodation…how does that make sense? – but this country is a little bit special. Started off with a 2day slow boat ride over the boarder that ensured you get to meet a bunch of fellow travellers who are all heading in the same direction but it also gave us a chance to take in some spectacular views of what this country has to offer.
Now most travellers come to Laos to go tubing in a place called Vang Vieng which is where I am writing this from…tubing being hiring out a giant rubber ring and floating down a 3km stretch of river stopping at numerous bars to simply party…naturally this gets pretty messy pretty quickly…and to just ensure it gets messy, many of the bars have built giant 30ft slides and trapeze swings into the river for people to drunkenly try and do…yes many people have been reported to breaking ankles etc but apart from a few scratches me and Adam seem to be just taking it all in our stride.
This place is essentially the “malia or magaluf” of Laos, a hidden paradise that has become so westernised that every restaurant plays either back to back episodes of friends of family guy…even the menus are identical. We have even found somewhere that sells Yorkshire puddings…although I think I will wait until I home to devour a home cooked roast! Howwwever ...it isn't half set in a beautiful location...
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