Laos Trip Journal

If you catch this post in progress, I suggest  that you go to the end first, as I will add each entry at the top in reversed chronological order.

25 March

I am now in Singapore have have kept myself busy, very busy so far…

On Saturday, I went to the EM Dragon Boat Festival, and saw a few friends (I am probably going to forget some one, but here goes…) – Albert, Andy, Ben, Beng Jit, Bob, Boon Yong, Christy, Corey, Desmond, Dawn, Ed, Fong Loo, Freddy, Gan, Georges, Jonathan, Josh, Kiem, Li Fang, Norli, Pam, Patrick, Peter, Siew Chong, Sinoto, Su Li, Thet, Tinu, Vincent, Xu Huan and more.  It was fun to catch up with all of them, but since it was raining most of the day, I did not stay ’till the end, just long enough to see that the “One Team” (Chemicals + SPT) was able to repeat the wonderful victory of last year, even without my help!

On Sunday, it was Triathlon time! I left the hotel around 5AM and met Richard for “Body Marking” before 6.  The race started at 7:10 AM but our wave, all the relay, teams did not start ’till 7:40.  We were the last to leave. I really struggled for the first lap, but felt better on the second lap and actually did my best time ever for the 1.9 km distance.  Richard and Dave did very well too and so we beat last year’s time by a few minutes.

Monday, I walked down Orchard Road (all the way) just to see how much had changed.  I also walked around the Marina Area and marvelled at the new casino Resort which is nearing completion (wait for the pictures coming soon!).

Tuesday, I had lunch with former colleagues and a drink (or two) with Sam.

Wednesday I went to the Zoo and enjoyed it soo much that I spent 5 hours there.  In the evening was the big party.  I really enjoyed it and the food, at Banana Leaf Apolo, was great as usual.

Thursday, I had a lunch date with Mary and closed my checking account, which gave me money to spend.

Much more planned for the days to come, so you will have to stay tuned for the real detailed posts when they come…

19 March

I have arrived at the end of my trip through Laos.  I am still in Vientiane, but leaving today for Singapore.

It has been a wonderful experience.  Since I last updated this, we spent a day visiting Vientiane and then left for the South, to Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau.  The EcoLodge had a superb view of one of the many waterfalls that leave the plateau.  We also trekked to some of them while there.

We ended the trip in the 4000 island region of the Mehkong, at the Laos-Cambodian border.  As the guide indicates, Laos is a generally cool and relaxed place, but it is here that they make it into an art…

I am now going to have to look through close to 1500 photos to pick a few to share with you in the coming weeks.  I hope that they came out OK as most of the time, there has been a severe haze due to brush fires.

13 March

We have arrived in Vientiane after a very short flight from Phonsavan.  We visited the Plain of Jars and the “Lucky Buddha”.

What I discovered, and maybe should have rememberd, is that this part of Laos was heavily bombarded by the US Air Force between 1963and 1974.  It is said that more bombs were dropped in Laos than in Germany and Japan combined during WWII.  There are still thousands of unexploded bombs every where in that area, and several organisations are painstakingly clearing the ground, 1 m2 at the time.

The “Jars” in the plain are huge limestone jars dating from 2000-3000 years ago (no one is sure).  No one is sure of their purpose either.  They make for an interesting sight amongst the bomb craters.

The “Lucky Buddha” is lucky because the building he was housed in was completely destroyed and yet it survived almost intact.

After two days in Vientiane we move South to the border of Cambodia.  This will be more nature that history – I do hope that the level of smog in the air will drop.  Even in Vientiane, last night, the sun disappeared about 15 minutes before sunset, hidden by a thick layer of smoke from all the fires that are set to clear the land for farming.

11 March

We have arrived today in Phonsavan, the city at the center of the Plain of Jars.  It took us 7 hours today to cover the 250 km from Luang Prabang to here.

I really enjoyed Luang Prabang, where we spent one full day and two nights.  One day is not enough to get a full view of this wonderful city.  I could have easily stayed an extra day, but now, I have a good excuse to come back.

It is a small city with a developing tourism industry, but it is not yet over-run by ‘us’.  There are great temples, the Royal Palace, occupied until 1975, is definitely worth the visit; but it is really the town itself, and the relaxed atmosphere that reigns everywhere that made me feel so good.  We had quite a few good meals too and I bought a photograph that I really like.

Tomorrow, we tour the Plain of Jars before flying to Vientiane where we will also stay two nights.

9 March

Just want to keep you informed of my trip through Laos while I am still there.

I just arrived in Luang Prabang after spending two days on a slow boat down the Mehkong river.  We came through Thailand and crossed the Mehkong River into Laos near Chang Rai.

Very relaxing two days with not much to do other than look at the scenery and watch the river banks flow by.  The Mehkong is very low right now so in a lot of places, the boat has to be careful not too hit rocks right under the water level, but we managed safely.

We made a stop in a small village which was very interesting; we aso stopped at caves full of Buddha images.  Tomorrow we visit Luang Prabang, which used to be the old capital of Laos.. Should be very interesting.

I will let you know how things develop the next time I find access to internet…

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