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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Feb 03, 2007 07:00 PM Sunday market in Manghun
They call this region Xishuanbanna. (chinese names are difficult for us). It lies in the deep south of Yunnan, close to the borders with Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
Many minorities live here. It is probably one of very few areas in China where you still can see people wearing national costumes... No, in the capital of t he region - Jinghong it is hard to see them. I recognized that the best opportunity for that will be Sunday market in a little township of Manghun - like 2 hours drive by bus from Jinghong. The minibus costs 15 yuans and there are 2-3 buses each hour.
Yes, on the matket I saw in the crowd people in interesting dressing, but it was only like 10 percent of them in the crowd. They are shy, so be discret taking their photos. The market - products is also interesting to see...
After return to Jinghong I started to look for the bread. Can you imagine? In the capital of the region with fancy hotels, nightclubs and international airport it is not possible to buy regular bread... They eat noodle soup or steamed dumplings for breakfast. Finally in the huge, luxury supermarket I found sweet bread with raisins - like a cake... It cost 4.50 y bed pound. Butter, margarine, cheese even there were not available...
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Feb 02, 2007 07:00 PM The only road to China...
There is only one land border crossing for the foreigners going from Laos to China: Boten - Bohan. The local bus from Udomxai to Boten departs at 8.30 am and costs 28000 kips. The road is windy and have many landslides and holes. Bump, bump!... It takes almost 4 hours to do this 100 km route. But just before the border it is getting better - probably the Chinese brothers improoved last 20 km or so...
No problems at all with Lao immigrations or customs - I even did not open my backpack... Then you must go 2 km through the border to reach Chineese border point. If you have some kips left you can take a moto-rickshaw for 4000 kip.
Welcome to China again! They check first your temperature (against bird-flu) and let you go to the immigrations...
Chinese little Bohan township after rural Laos looks like a downtown! Yes - there are money changers at the border - they offer 1 yuan for 1500 kip (bad rate!)
Then you have to go by minibus to the nearest town - Muengla or Mangla by bumpy and dusty road - they just build the highway to the border!. It is horrible: you will not find any directions in latin alphabet! Chinese script only! Keep the map with the Chinese sctipt names in you hand to explain where you want to go...
In Mangla bus station I bought a ticket to Jinghong - it cost 33 yuan. No the way I saw again the Mekong River. We reached Jinghong in the evening - all day on the road. But I am already in Yunnan!
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Feb 01, 2007 07:00 PM Udomxai-Laos: off the beaten track
It is time to say goodbye to the charming Luang Prabang and to go north - in the direction of the Chineese border... There is a bus departing Luang north station at 8.30 to Udomxai - do not go the day before to buy the ticket - they do not sell them in advance.
It was early morning and the sun was rising when I crossed Khan River walking through the "bikes-only" bridge. Then it was still about 2 km to walk to the bus station. A local guy on the motorbike offered me a ride... People in Laos are lovely!
The bus ticket to Udomaxai cost 45 000 kip. We departed on time and it took us 4 hours on narrow, mountain road to get to Udomxai - dusty town close to the Golden Triangle.
Xin-Xin Guest house is just opposite bus station - they charge only 3 USD for the clean room with shared facilities.
In the middle of Udomxai (what a name!) there is a hill with gold-painted stupa - it was just a day of the stupa festival - a lot of people were coming there for offerings and pray - nice occassion to take pictures - they are happy to be photographed do not ask money for photos... it is still off the beaten track...
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Jan 31, 2007 07:00 PM Slow boat to Pak Ou
Huge Mekong River gives many transport and excursion possibilities. You can even sail by this river from Vientiane to Luang Prabang avoiding mountain roads. But the boat voyage takes 2 days with overnight ashore.
I took a standard excursion from Luang Prabang to the Pak Ou caves - it is only 1,5 hour each way... Many hotels and travel agenciec offer this tour for just 4 USD plus 10000 kip entry fee. On the route the boat stops at the little village where the local people produce lao-lao - rice wine tasting like sake...
Sail to Pak Ou gives you opportunity to enjoy the river landscape. In the caves there is more then 2000 images of Lord Buddha...
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Jan 30, 2007 07:00 PM Luang Prabang - sleepy and charming...
The former capital of Lao Kingdom is today a little town on the Mekong river. Sleepy and charming... Not to be missed if you are coming to Indochina. Unfortunately more and more tourist are coming here - it is changing the atmosphere... Hurry up!
I was walking whole morning around the center - there is picturesque Royal Palace with high ornate religious pavilion and more then a dozen Buddhist temples - most of them are inhabited by friendly monks wearing orange clothes. Palm trees, flowers around, sun... Tourist paradise - they have more then twenty little restaurants and cafes, many guest houses hidden in the small lanes. If you do not want to visit all temples Wat Xieng Thong (Royal Family Temple) - is probably the most important and the most impressive. They charge there 10000 kips entry fee.
In the afternoon I took a minibus trip to the Kuang Si Waterfall. May agencies in the town offer this half-day excursion charging from 35000 kips. Be prepared to pay also 15000 entry fee on site. It is worth... The fall with few cascades is about 60 m high. You can swim in one of little pools at the bottom... or to climb the steep path to the top of the first drop... Exciting!
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Jan 28, 2007 07:00 PM Laos by bus...
In the capital city of Vientiane there are two long distance bus stations... They are now quite far from the center of the town. Tuk-tuk's drivers will ask from you minimum 20000 kip to the southern one and 15000 to the northern.
Any guest house in the city will be ready to arrange for you bus tickets but keep in mind that they will charge for that extra money: for the bus to Luang Prabang they charge 165000 kips. If you will go to the bus station to buy it by yourself you will pay only 90000. The faster VIP bus cost 115000 - it takes 9 hours to get to LP, regular bus will go 11 hours.
We started from Vientiane at 8 am... I did not expect that I will travel almost whole day through the mountains. Laos is hilly - we were climbing the passes and going down to the valleys. There are a lot of nice views on the route so if is worth to take a seat in front of the bus.
We reached Luang Prabang just before sunset. Touts were waiting at the bus station to take us to the town and to offer the rooms. I decided to stay at Chitlada Guest House in the silent street - they charge 10 USD for the airy single room with bath and hot shower. In the evening I took a walk along the main street of LP: At dusk it converts to the enchanting souvenir market with hundreds of lights... The vegetarian meal - full plate of noodles and veggies cost 50 US cents...
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Jan 27, 2007 07:00 PM A day in Vientiane...
It was evening when I reached Vientiane... The choice of the guesthouses is big here but late in the evening it wa not easy to find a room. Finally I landed in Santisouk Guest House near the National Museum. It is located in the old building - I share the facilities and they charge 7 USD for single room...
Since my last visit Vientiane changed a lot. Now you can see many new buildings, there are fancy hotels and they are just improving the surface on the streets. But a taste of the old Vientiane you will still find close to the Mekong...
I was walking all day around the town, visiting well known and new places - mostly charming buddhist temples. All but three of them have free entry. In those converted into museums they charge 5000 kips entry fee - like half a dollar. Basic mean of the city transpot is tuk-tuk - little motocycle rickshaw. For the short ride they charge 5000 kips, for longer - 10000. Bargaining is necessary... Tomorrow I am departing to Luang Prabang - the former capital of Laos...
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Jan 26, 2007 07:00 PM Sun over the Mekong River - Laos
Just 100 m from the bus station in Savannakhet you will find two little guesthouses. They charge just 3,50 USD for single room with cold shower. There are also better rooms but for me it was enough... I know already official rate for the USD- 1 USD is worth 9660 kips.
In the morning I took a walk to the center of town. Warm, the sun was shining... Little traffic on the streets... In the shops prices ale displayed - not like in Vietnam! The loaf of bread cost 10000 kips.
Savannakhet - the main town in the southern Laos lies on the bank of the wide Mekong River. There is a daytime ferry sailing to the other side - to Thailand. In the town you will find half a dozen picturesque wats - buddhist temples. In the internet cafe they charge 6000 kips for 1 hour of quite good connection.
Bus ticket to the capital city of Vientiane cost 55000 kips. It is long, 9 hours route and the last bus is departing at 11.30 am.
It was local bus but I have there more space for legs then in Vietnamese *tourist bus*. We were going in the pasture lanscape of rice fields, village houses on poles, forests... People are nice, but on the bus I did not find the person speaking english...
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Jan 25, 2007 07:00 PM Last cheat on the way to Laos...
I spent a night in Hue... At 6 am I was waiting for Camel Travel bus in front of my hotel... Yes, they put me on the excursion bus going to DMZ... I disembarked at Dong Ha - the driver put me on the local microbus to the border township of Lao Bao (70 km through the mountains). Then, after crossing border on foot I walked about 1 km to the first village in Laos. The next bus was waiting: it was local junk bus departing at 12.15 pm... The representative of Vietnameese Agencies Miss Be Lan bought for me a ticket for 20000 kip (like 2 USD). I arrived to Savannakhet at 17.30!
That's how looks Vietnameese "special, direct tourist bus". They just lie! You better go by local buses to Dong Ha and onward... you will save quite a lot of money! By the way: Miss Be will offer you "safe" money exchange. Smiling and looking into your eyes she will say: -In the bank in Laos they will give you 8000 kip per USD, but I will give you 8200! You will change some dollars. Later you will find that it is worth more then 9000 kip.
Do not change money at the Vietnam border! If you really need: only 5-10 USD... Sorry - I did. Not much... And this was the last cheat in Vietnam. Enough!
Now I am in Laos - hoping that they are not cheating foreigners here! We will see...
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Jan 24, 2007 07:00 PM Last day in Hoi An
Walking along the Hoi An street I meet many other tourists. It is low season now. I can imagine what how does it look like in the peak period... The locals make a good business on tourism. Cheating them... Little girl asked me what am I looking for at the bazar... Bananas! -I'll show you where they are! - her english was quite good. She took me to the place I asked for the price. 20000! The real price paid by locals is 7000 or less... Other Vietnameese are staying around, watching and listening... But nobody will tell you that you are cheated... Anti-foreigner solidarity!
Camel Travel offer me ticket for their bus from Hoi An to Savannakhet in Laos. It will cost 18 USD. But it require overnight in Hue. I heared thet other companies offer for 20 USD same ticket with overnight cost included. But they say that their bus is more comfortable. Let's try...
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