As we arrived in Pakse we expected lots of tuk tuks to be hassling us for expensive rides into town. Instead, we found ourselves in an empty busstation with only two people, a dirty man with a mohawk and a man with a Russian assult rifle on his back. They told us (in a non threatening way) the only place to sleep was the adjacent hotel and that no tuk-tuks ran at this hour. We were stuck, so we decided to listen to the man with the gun.

The next morning we were able to take a tuk-tuk into town, and we found a much cheaper hostel. We also found our new favorite restaurant, a place called Daolin. For a fair price, we were eating real bacon for the first time in 3 months.

The first day was spent wandering the city. We walked to monuments, temples, markets, book stores, museums and food stands. Wikitravel teased us with promises of cheap burgers and ice cream, but it was a sham. That night we met up with a few new friends, played games, and drank beer. No one told us all the hostels lock up at 11, so when we got back home at 12, we thought we were sleeping outside. Luckily we were “those people”, and a sleepy, grumpy, hotel owner opened the door for us. “Do you know what time we close?” he growled. “I do now?”

Pakse is apparently the second biggest city in Laos, although it doesn't feel like it. The city isn't crowded and the traffic is almost non-existent. There isn't much tourism there, and we found that this was part of the charm.

We made an effort to take more photos of the locals while we're we here.

The second day, we got on the road and visited Wat Phu, a gorgeous temple near the town of Champasak. This ancient temple was originally built before 1000CE as a Hindu temple, but over the years it blended with Buddhism, and about 500 years ago, it became a primarily Buddhist temple with Hindu influence. We found the temple, besides beautiful and impressive, interesting. The blend of Hinduism and Buddhism is very unique, especially from a westernern religious perspective.

That night we finished some blog posts and enjoyed more food as temporary regulars at Daolin.

Finally, off to Don Khong for our first volenteer opportunity. Wish us luck.

Thanks for reading,

Grant and Danielle

The post Pakse – A Long Ride, an Ancient Temple, and a Man With a Machine Gun appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

Our first and only full day in Phonsavan took us to the first three field sites. I think there are well over fifty sites in total, but most sites are isolated by hundreds of meters of land that might have land mines and UXO's (“unexploded ordinances”).

Of the sites we saw, Site 1 was the biggest and most interesting, Site 2 was the most relaxing since it offered shade, and Site 3 was the prettiest. Site 1 was currently undergoing a new archeological project that was apparently going to last several years. While we were there, we were able to talk to the archeologists who we happy to explain their work, theories, and tech.

The land we explored in Phonsavan was strangly barren, possibly the aftermath of deforestation during the war, or the aftermath of the slash-and-burn agriculture so common in Laos. Either way, the haze was concerning.

The aftermath of the war left this region of Laos ravaged. As we rode our motor bikes, we could see caters in the hills and fields that marked were little “bombies” landed from the air raids. Although the bombies were about baseball sized, they were dropped in the thousands and each took a 10m radius hole out of the Earth. Exhibits told us that on average, a plane dropped a bomb load in Laos every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for 7 years. The communist resistance made strong holds around the jar sites so each site has a crater every 100 yards or so. Some of the jars were damaged as a result of the bombs.

Since the war, a large percentage of land is considered unsafe to trek since unexploded ordinances and land mines still scatter the landscape. No one in Phonsavan should walk off trail unless the ground has been cleared. Many groups are working to clear the land, but the work is slow moving, dangerous and tedious. Apperently they find and safely detonate about 200 explosives per year. Safe trail is mark with scattered, unobvious blocks (see below…the 'MAG' side is uncleared, while the white side is). This obvious danger does not keep the locals from wandering the hazardous fields however. A local archeologist told us some Lao are commonly found searching with metal detectors, taking home the bombs found, and fishing with them. We couldn't believe it, but it's true.

During the rest of the day, we tried to visit a waterfall that was recently diverted into an aqueduct adjacent to a new road, and we indulged in some awesome Indian food in town.

On to Paske! It's only one, little twenty hour bus ride away.

Grant and Danielle

The post Phonsavan – Jars, Jars, and more Jars appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

To initially cross the boarder, we took a bus to Chiang Khong, stamped out of Thailand and paid $36 for a Laos visa on arrival ($1 for a “weekend tax”). We crossed “Friendship Bridge #4” with a neutral bus, then headed over to the boats for the long ride to Laos. If you ever take these boats, remember to bring food,since they don't feed you, and remember to bring a sitting pad, unless they tell you that you don't need one (you can buy them at the boat dock).

The slow boat was, in the end more, comfortable than expected but about as nice as a long plane ride. From the boat we saw fishing villages, kids playing in the river, monks, temples, elephants, fish, bison, and sweeping views of beautiful mountains and karsts. The scenery was stellar and I'm glad I saw them, but everyone was antsy by the end of the ride.

After two days, we finally arrived in Luang Prabang and immediately started wandering around the city. Luang Prabang felt like a small town to us, but it is one of the biggest in Laos due to the population. It has 5 bars, all in one area, that close at 11:30, but if you walk 1 mile away, you're out of the city limit and there is a late night bowling venue. Ha. The prices are a little higher here (about 50-75% more than Thailand) but if you work hard, you'll still make your budget. The first night, in order to save our money, we visited buffet alley (see picture) and had some pretty awful cold food, which is never a good idea.

The first morning we immediately negotiated for a motorbike and headed to Kwang Si Waterfall. This waterfall takes the cake so far for coolest waterfall visited ever. The electric blue water cascades over dozens of individual terraces ranging from 1 to 30 meters. Several pools are available for swimming, and several are closed to preserve their function and beauty.

Before the waterfall, there is a moon bear reserve and a butterfly park. This was a great first stop to start Laos right.

The next day we ventured in a random direction, spat seeds into the river, and lounged on a make-shift beach. That night we learn a few new card games from a group of Canadians (31, Oh Hell, and Asshole), and prepared for the jump to Nong Khiew, our next destination.

See you there.

Grant and Danielle

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Our hostel (Mercy) was a big hostel with a chill vibe. Most big hostels are party hostels, but this one was laid back with pool tables, outside seating and a swimming pool. Everyone was friendly and the staff were helpful.

On the first day, we meet some people, reflected on our recent meditation retreat, went to the local night market, hit a few bars, and ate some 7-11 toasties. Pretty standard backpacker night.

The next day we got up early, grabbed a scooter and started adventuring. First stop was the White Temple. An insanely beautiful and intricate temple by a renowned Thai artist. Next to the temple was an exhibit with his artwork, which was equally interesting and stunning (half Buddhist and half psychedelic). This temple was still under development while we were there and the artist doesn't expect to finish until 2070 (using his successors).

After the White Temple, we went to a 70m waterfall and the Black House. The waterfall was tranquil and magnificent. The trees shaded us from the harsh sun perfectly as we enjoyed the scenery for twenty minutes before any other tourists showed up. The black house left more to be desired. Because of the scathing online reviews we read, we expected a dark, cult culture house with interesting and gorey exhibits. Instead it was a collection of one “artist's” weird stuff, and a few artistic pieces that were mostly a tribute to himself.

That night we visited a cat cafe and we treated ourselves to hot pot (finally!) with excellent results. Another treat we'll take home with us.

Grant and Danielle

The post Chiang Rai – Cats, Temples, and Hot Pot appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

Let's start with the good.

Phong Nha is a awesome park that has some of the largest caves on the planet hidden underneath it. It has an great hostel called Easy Tiger that has good live music and there are a few nice restaurants on the main drag. The town is nestled in a little canyon surrounded by shear cliffs and karsts on one side and river on the other.

Amusingly, Phong Nha has been finding a new biggest cave every couple years for the last 8 years, and now hosts the largest known cave on the planet. One of the ex-biggest caves, Paradise cave, has been rigged and lit by the park service and anyone can visit, no guide needed. It goes back over 7km, I think (The biggest goes back something like 35km). When we dropped by, it was nothing short of awesome, and our photos will do it little justice.

We also rode to a trail for Gio Waterfall and some monkey spotting. Success.

Despite the thin mist and light rain that I'm almost use to by now, our motor bike ride was gorgeous. We rode through farm land, over canyon bridges, amongst huge karsts and through cow herds.

What an awesome place.

Now, the bad, the worst accommodation I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing…

Remember that we were showing up to the national park sick with body ache and a cold. We were aiming for a private room and a days rest with pho and tea. The night we arrive, we quickly find a room, but we are next to a bar with karaoke and rest doesn't come easily. To boot, the next morning we are greeted to hammers and saws.

Fair enough, this is the life of travel, so we hiked down the road and found a place away from the noise. Unfortunately, we end up finding the worst accommodation cesspool in the history of accommodations.

The pain comes on slow. We show up and they take us to a room in the back corner of the hotel. It has one window that opens to a brick wall with a pile of trash beneath it. All good though, the bed looks clean and it's quiet. A place to recover.

But then we smelled cigarettes, and then we found cigarettes, and then the kids started yelling and stomping and crying, and then the hammers started, then the saws, and then we switched rooms and the staff are jaded and apathetic to our condition, and then Christmas music, then toddlers music, all at full volume, then random children were barging into our room and doors slamming…As it drew cold, I went down to ask for real blankets (apparently not included) and recieved nothing but glances from the staff/family as they ate dinner in the other room. I looked around and found both of our passports sitting out in the open, not in a safe, ready to be stolen, so I stole them back.

Eventually it dies down just in time for bed and we think our awful hard spring beds were the end of it… How wrong we were….

…I woke up at 3am covered in hives. HIVES. When was the last time these sheets were washed? I slipped into my silk liner for protection, and try to go back to sleep, but just to add insult to injury, at 4am, I'm greeted to Christmas carols on full blast from a loud speaker downstairs. (Who listens to Chistm- it doesn't matter.) We luckily didn't catch anything permanent from that cesspool, but Danielle came out with 40 bed bug bites and turned into an itchy mess for the next two days. Hammers, trash, bed bugs, hives, Christmas carols… I hope that place burns to the ground. I hate that hotel with passion.

Fin.

Phong Nha was still awesome and I still recommend it, just be careful where you stay.

See you in Hanoi!

Grant and Danielle

P.S. As a reminder, our full res photos are in Dropbox. Find the link through either of our Facebooks.

The post Phong Nha – The Highs and Lows appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

First up was Nha Trang. We had 7 hours between bus rides so we walked to an ancient, 600 year old Cham temple. The temple was interesting, but slightly belittled by the six gift shops on the temple grounds and it's location in the middle of a city with high rises well above its little hill.

The charm of Nha Trang came from a friendly local Easy Rider tour guide who sparked a conversation with us at a cofee shop. After the standard topics, he let us in on his view of the government, the facade of success put in front of tourists, the corruption keeping shops in and out of business and people in and out of jobs. Despite fractured English, this guy was a wealth of information from a local perspective. Thank you, [name removed].

After snagging a copy of East of Eden by Steinbeck from a mobile bookstore (shoutout to Aaron), we were off to Hoi An.

Hoi An is probably the quaintest city I've ever seen. Boats are wooden and colourful, storefronts are paneled and old fashion, and the streets are small with bright lanterns. Despite a continuous drizzle, the walk around the small town was refreshing and delicious as we snacked on fresh donuts and ate a local favorite called Cao Lau. Apparently it can only be made here because it requires a special noodle to be cooked in a water that can only come from a specific local well. I don't care if any of that matters, because it was legit. So good.

Since it was raining, we kept to indoor activities: cafes, Bahn Mi Queen, chicken rice, 10¢ beers, blind massages, and shop tours. All good and sometimes interesting.

After two days stuck indoors, however, I wanted to explode with all the stored energy I possessed. My god, I would hate to be an indoor cat. Once we got to Hue, we found things that guaranteed at least 8 miles of walking / day.

First we went to the Imperial City. A citadel built in 1804-ish. The outer layer of the wall surrounds half the current city. Within that is an old, ancient fortified castle, and within the citadel is the forbidden purple city. The old emperor's fort came complete with 5 temples, a lake, a garden, and a separate area for housing his mother and wife.

That night we had a nice meal on the river front and hung out with the family running our homestay. Southern Vietnamese say Northern Vietnamese people are colder and less friendly. I guess we aren't far enough north yet.

The next day, we ventured through the country by motor bike, in the rain to an old temple, a gorgeous cemetery, and two dramatically large emporer tombs. From one story, it seemed as though the emperors during the 1800s were simply French puppets, so they had time to build these awesome tombs and live there as a quick get away from politics. After seeing them, I'd like to go back for a get away too.

We started coming down with a bad cold at this point so we limped on the bus to Phong Nha that night and loaded ourselves with Advil, vitamin C, and B12, hoping for greener pastures. First time I've been home sick so far. There's nothing like a warm bed and not having to worry about travel when you're sick.

See you in Phong Nha for caves and hikes.

Cheers,

Grant and Danielle

P.S. How to get over a cold in 24 hours: Advil, Vit C, B12, copious amounts of super spicy pho, and even more hot, ginger-lime tea.

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