Shan in Japan

Just got into Vientiane - capital of Laos.  For a capital city, it is very small but the biggest town I've seen yet in Laos.  Extended my visa for another few weeks and will head down south to Pakse and the Bolevan plains to do some trekking.  Getting my Vietnam visa sorted as well, so that will be the next country.  

Last few days I hung out in VangVieng.  A backpackers haven for pretty much chilling out and doing nothing.  Well, I did put the effort into floating down the river in a tire tube with beer in hand.  When the beer ran low, all you had to do was call out to one of the many shacks alongside the river and they would hook you in for a fresh supply.  There were a few giant swings into the river that got the blood pressure up just a little bit.  The evenings were spent lounging in cafes watching reruns of "Friends". 

An evil monkey bit me on the hand as I was trying to salvage my sunglasses that it stole.  The following night, they were playing '28 Days Later' in one of the guesthouses.  This gave me nightmares of turning into some diseased zombie freak, so I promptly went down to the hospital for all the necessary jabs.  I had peace of mind that one of the locals was also bitten by the same monkey a few months ago and had no signs of foaming at the mouth.   I needed some of those inoculations anyway, especially for India further down the track.

Got some photos up of Laos: http://imageevent.com/shanakin/laos

I can finally access my blog again!!  Thanks to all of you who have posted comments.  I have not been able to view them, thus unable to reply - apologies.

Last days in China were a bit stressful as my bus from Kunming to the Laos border broke down and it was on the last day before my visa expired.  I didn't make it on time of course and had to spend the night in Mengla - a real dump of a place.  I relayed my bus breakdown excuse to the Chinese officials at the border and they were intent on fining me 500 yuan, then just waved me on with a smirk.  So I walked the 3km border zone where the nice tar-sealed Chinese road abruptly ended and the pot holed dirt road of Laos began.   For the first 4 days in Laos I hung out in a small village  - Muang Ngoi which is only accessible by boat.  Time has really stopped here, with thatched huts on stilts dotted amongst the rice paddy fields.  After China, the people are refreshingly nice (there were nice people in China too, of course!) and not in your face trying to sell you stuff. 

Now I'm in Luang Prabang just in time for the Light Festival.  This is a great place with Wats on every corner and beautiful old French architecture.  Nice to just chill out by the Mekong river drinking decent coffee and eating crossiants.  Haven't been taking many photos lately but will upload some perhaps when I get to Vientiane, where hopefully there is a speedier internet connection.

Also updated the travel map record: http://www.dokonano.com/shanakin/