“Can’t speak French” (Girls Aloud)

Our last night in Chaing Mai saw Jo, Ann and myself head off in our second attempt of the trip to see a tiger. We had read a good report in the Lonely Planet about the Chaing Mai Night Safari, so we headed off on the longest tuk-tuk ride ever (well, until Vientiane, but that is coming later) out to the safari. We arrived just in time to go on the English speaking tour which was great (if lucky) timing on our behalf. So we headed off, full of anticipation… only to realise that we were in a zoo and we would be going on “safari” in an open bus with about 60 other people, and a man with a spotlight who dutifully turned it on as we arrived at each enclosure and revealed some very irritated looking animals. We did manage to see tigers (3 different species), and we were also able to see kangaroos and a dingo which the guide described as looking like a tiger (gave Jo and myself some reason to doubt that she had ever actually seen one up close…). And you can imagine our thrill at being able to see a water buffalo, because we hadn’t seen quite enough of them in India, Nepal or Thailand for that matter!

Jo, Ann and I have never laughed so hard. When we returned to the central compound for the “musical waterfall” (think laser lights and fountains set to music including the star wars theme… all class) we saw the opportunity to record our visit in style, and we had our photo taken with a quite unhappy (and smelly) baby puma. Our night was then topped off by our tuk-tuk running out of fuel (I seem to jinx any transport we are on!) and being towed by another tuk-tuk to the tuk-tuk petrol station where, upon arriving, all the staff at the petrol station proceeded to laugh at us for being in a tuk-tuk with no petrol. Charming!

Jo, Ann, the puma and me:

The next day we headed off into mini-vans (with the all important air conditioning) for the drive towards the Laos border. Our first stop along the way was some hot springs, unfortunately not swimming material, but the locals were using them to boil eggs! Then it was back on the buses and to our next stop, just south of Chaing Rai, at the White Wat which was an amazing sight.

The White Wat: After lunch we headed to Chaing Khong on the banks of the (very flooded) Mekong where we stayed at a hotel with a great view over the river and to Laos on the other side which was to be our destination the next day.

View from our hotel: The border crossing from Thailand to Laos was an absolute pleasure! We caught a long boat across the river to the Laos side (our guide had already cleared us through Thai immigration as that was under water due to flooding!), and we were stamped through in no time at all. Then we headed to the dock where our slow boat was waiting for us. We felt slightly guilty as we clambered over four other boats packed with locals and tourists on hard wooden benches and arrived at our luxury boat complete with reclining seats, a dining table, a fridge and the all important karaoke machine! And so we spent two days cruising down the Mekong admiring the fantastic scenery of lush dense forested hills right to the water’s edge, the occasional hut or fisherman and the swirling flooded river. A trip like this is made by the random moments that happen along the way, and the most random of the Mekong journey was when our guide was asked to put on some music, at which point he put on the karaoke machine and the first song we enjoyed was “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”. Needless to say, none of us sang along!

Boat on the Mekong:

We arrived in Luang Prabang and were joined by our new recruit, Chris, Elaine’s boyfriend. Luang Prabang is a lovely town with a very French influence and a dangerously good night market for handicrafts. We had three days to explore the town and to get Vietnam visas. While my exploration of the town was limited to two temples and a lot of restaurants (and a wine and cheese afternoon at the hotel – yep, doing it tough!), I did continue my “action woman” endeavours and headed out with Jo, Rich, Alexa, Cheryl, Michael S and Mike H for a day of kayaking and a visit to a waterfall for a swim. We had a fantastic day, although it did start a little slowly as the truck that was taking us to the start of the kayaking broke down – even I knew that the problem was a flat battery, but the driver studiously checked the oil before deciding that a roll start was probably in order. And, hey presto, we were off again. Our first stop was the waterfall which provided us with the opportunity to watch elephants washing off in the river (together with another tourist demonstrating to us why you don’t try to ride an elephant in a skirt), and then we had a swim in the waterfall.

Washing an elephant:

Playing in the waterfall:

Walking up from the waterfall:

Then the hard work began as we spent the next three hours kayaking (downstream, it must be said, but that isn’t the point! I had to paddle!) It was lovely to be able to appreciate the scenery, wave to locals and chat away. Towards the end of our paddling we approached a couple of rapids, including a whirlpool that brought Cheryl and myself unstuck! But we didn’t feel so bad as the guide had also managed to capsize in the same place!

Kayaking:

We returned from kayaking and got ready to go out for Chris’s official Odyssey Induction. After tying his new friend to him (a blue power ranger balloon), we had a lovely meal and a couple of drinks (and maybe a couple more) before heading to the bowling alley (which is the only place open after the 11.30 curfew) and discovering that I am pretty rubbish at bowling (a fact I think I knew, but had forgotten…) Sneaking back into the hotel was easier once we discovered that the gate wasn’t locked and therefore we didn’t have to scale the fence…

From Luang Prabang we headed to Vientiane by mini-bus. It was a full day’s drive along a very windy road with amazing scenery. After the rather disgusting sausages we had for lunch from a roadside stall, we were very happy to arrive into Vientiane to find a wide range of restaurants! Thanks to the 11pm curfew at our hotel, and the construction works next door, I was up early the next morning and Jo, Ann and I headed out to explore the town. We wanted a tuk-tuk to the Phra That Laung Wat, the most important site in Laos, however we were swiftly talked into taking a full day tuk-tuk tour of the town which was fantastic. Our first stop was the Buddha Park where we saw a huge reclining Buddha and may other Buddha sculptures (and required us at some stages to wade through ankle deep water – got to love touristing in the rainy season! Upside – fewer other people are doing it and you can do cool stuff like kayak down the rivers and play in waterfalls. Downside – you will get wet).

We then headed back into town via the Friendship Bridge which links Thailand and Laos across the Mekong. Then we were taken to the temple that we had first set out to see, and after a spot of lunch, managed to catch up with most of the rest of the group who were also there to see the famous temple. Our tuk-tuk then took us to the remaining sights on his tour – the Victory Gate (a huge concrete structure which they claim to resemble the Arc de Triomph), the Sisaket Museum (a temple which houses 10,136 Buddha statues) and then the Ho Phra Keo Museum (another temple which has historical artifacts, and some rather cool dragons guarding the staircase in). We then tried to go to the National Museum, but it was unfortunately closed, so we headed back to the hotel and after all that culture, felt perfectly justified in sitting in our air conditioned room to watch the Olympics!