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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
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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Jan 23, 2007 07:00 PM My Son - ruins of Champa Kingdom
In Hoi An I stay in the Sea Star hotel - now - in the low season they charge only 8 USD for clean, airy single room with bath...
Hoi An in the base for the excursions to the ruins of My Son - the religious center during the period of Champa Kingdom (from 4th century AD - they compare this culture with Angkor Wat and Borobodur).
The half day excursion by bus will cost you just 2 USD plus 60000 dongs entry fee.
I will tell you the true: it is interesting place but do not expect another Angkor Wat or Borobodur. The scale is much smaller...
All buildings - mostly temples, covered partly by tropical vegetation - are located in the radius of 500 m... The first two groups (B & C) are he most impressive...
But it is still most important archeological site in Vietnam. It is also on the UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List.
I was happy to read in the museum that my countryman Kazimierz Kwiatkowski - Kazik conducted there the excavation works in the period of many years... The second surprise was that that the grateful Vietnameese just built his monument on the main tourist street in Hoi An - it will be officially open on Jan 31st... That's nice that they appreciate the man from other country...
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Jan 22, 2007 07:00 PM Vietnam - Smiling and cheating...
I think that in Vietnam there is only one town like that... Hoi An is exceptional: tiny, located on the bank of the river with narrow streets and old yellow houses. Very picturesque place! It has special atmosphere of old, colonial days... There are few interesting chinese temples, little but interesting market and a lot of folklore on the streets. Entry ticket to five main attractions costs 75000 dongs.
Conical hats are still fashionable in Vietnam - you can buy one for you for less then one dollar.
This is the town of the tailors: here is plenty of them and they are ready to get ready your nes shirt in half a day for just 3 USD. If you want a suite it will be ready for tomorrow morning (cost: 30 USD). The people smile. But... If you want to buy a bread roll on the market they will ask you to pay 2000 dongs (price for locals-1000 or less). For the egg they asked me today 5000 dongs - the real price is 2000. And so on... No price on display! The foreinger is here to be cheated... Why?
I uderstand bargaining, 20%, 50%... but I see that locals do not bargain - so the prices for them are more or less fixed. Most of tourist do not know them and very often they even don't know that they are cheated... Smile... and pay!
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Jan 21, 2007 07:00 PM The tombs of the emperors...
Yes, there were emperors in Vietnam - till 1945. Hue, where I am was their capital and south of the city you can visit their ornate tombs...
The most flexible solution is to rent a driver on the motor bike.
Motor bike (like little honda) is the main mean of city transport. In Hanoi you will be bothered many times - and it is worth to use them since Hanoi is too large for the visit on foot. For the short ride you will pay 10000 dong (ask before, otherwise you will be cheated).
The standard price for visit 3 main tombs and the most impressive pagoda in Hue is 5 USD door to door... We started at 8 am and returned at 1 pm. The tombs are worth to see - they need some restoration but it is still wort to see them. The best one in my opinion is Minh Mangh... Just remember - you will pay extra entry fees - 55000 on each place except Thien Mu pagoda - the halls of the pagoda are closed now for restoration...
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Jan 20, 2007 07:00 PM 16 hours on the bus to Hue
The private tourist enterpreneurs in Vietnam are very well organized - they will send you from hands to hands... Tourist bus companies invented "open ticket". Since most of the tourist attractions are located along the 2000-km road linking Hanoi and Saigon they offer just for 22 USD bus ticket who allow you to make as many stops as you want on this route. No extra fees... It is really good deal, but keep in mind that you will be forced to travel with this selected company all over the way... They offer free pick up from the hotel but at the destination they will deliver you to the hotel of their choice...
I boarded the bus in Hanoi at 7.30 pm. Yes, I got a seat but there were not enough space for my knees... Can you imagine such a position during 16 hours? They also take into the bus more people then there were seats - all locals - they were sitting just on the floor...
At the destination they offered me their hotel (6 USD single room with bath). It was not so fancy but I was so tired that I accepted their offer...
Hue is the former capital of Vietnam - in the middle of the town there os old, huge citadel - they charge 55000 for entry. Perfume River is crossing the city... Enough... Good night!
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