More photos

We have put some more photos on previous pages.

Go back to ELEPHANT ISLAND.

Silence of the goat

The goat arrived on the back of a motorbike at 2pm. It screamed all the way to the kitchen and when we asked the manager of Ban Pako Eco-Lodge what was going on, he calmly said that they were going to sacrifice it to the gods/spirits.

Two hours later, the guests started to arrive and sure enough they slit its throat as an offering to the local gods and animist spirits. To be honest we were glad when it was killed as it was screaming blue murder for over an hour and disturbing out hammock time.

Of course we had to explain why we couldn't join in the celebrations and share in the goat BBQ. It will not be the screaming of the goat that we will need therapy for in the future, but the smell of sacrificed goat. It will stay with us for a long time!

Still, the rest of our time of Ban Pako was very relaxing and it is a great spot by the river. There is a herbal steam sauna and a natural spring pool. Everything is solar powered and the food is delicious. Apart from the sacrifice the only other downside was an abundance of wildlife. Which considering we were an hours drive deep in the jungle should not have been so surprising. However, when you are staying in a wooden bungalow with no walls, the jungle starts to encroach a little to uncomfortably! We had a huge huntsman spider sharing with us and various other bugs and mosies. Thank the Lord for mosquito nets.

The Lao people

Unlike Cambodia Laos seems to have progressed quite well economically. There are good businesses here and the people are striving to improve their lives. Of course there are some very poor people still, but the government seems to genuinely care for them.

The people are not as out going as the Vietnamese, but not as sullen as the Cambodians. Here area few of the people we have met:

A 'happy' town

One morning we awoke at 7am to a loud boom followed by a sudden tremor that rocked our whole bungalow. Five minutes later, it happened again this time followed by the sound of automatic gun fire. We looked out of the window, over the river to see people looking around warily. The boom and subsequent tremor was closer this time and the sound of gunfire worryingly loud.

Welcome to Vang Vieng! Apparently it wasn't a coup and Lao wasn't being invaded by an unknown enemy. The army were just practicing. An hour later all was calm. We rolled onto our hammocks, ordered a mulberry fruit shake and started the day again - the way all days should start.

Vang Vieng is party town. There is always something happening somewhere. Friends and the Simpsons are played constantly and you can get every type of food with a generous sprinkle of marijuana in/on it.

We have spent the past two days tubing down the river, stopping at the bars along the way. Today we have visited some caves and villages and had a BBQ by the river. We have made lots of friends here and had a great, fun time. Must get back to our hammocks and our Beer Laos...

If I hadn't seen such riches.....

Luang Prabang is a small town set between two converging rivers in the middle of the northern part of Laos. It has been selected as a UNESCO site which means that thy cannot build any further and that the town has received heavy investment. As a result it is the cleanest and most authentic 'colonial' town that we have seen in South East Asia. It even has pavements!!!!

We have had a week recuperating and resting. The town is small enough to walk around and has some great book shops and markets to browse through. It's a great place to kick back and dream away!

"Will Luang Prabang be the refuge of the last dreamers, the last lovers, the last troubadours?" --Marthe Bassene, 1909
(Not sure what a troubledour is, but we like the sound of it!!!)


This morning we had to catch ourselves. We were moaning at what a drag it was to have to decide where to eat breakfast every morning. At the moment, someone cooks for us, washes up, cleans our room, changes our sheets and washes our clothes and will even iron them if we ask. How spoilt are we?

We need a doctor!

There we were in Muang Sing, a village on the China border in the middle of no-where. The biggest festival of the Lao year was approaching and the tiny town was filling up fast. Garry very suddenly one evening, came down with severe pains, high fever and shivers. We were 10 hrs from any decent (and English speaking) medical treatment and he was getting worse. Where's a doctor when you need one?

It has taken us three days to travel down to Luang Prabang because Garry couldn't travel for very long each time. Today he has improved greatly thanks to some medication and has had a cup of tea to celebrate. We are both relieved to be in a civilized town. Actually Luang Prabang is one of the most civilized towns we have been to in South East Asia. More to follow on the town by the river....

Life as we know it

To take responsibility for one's life, one must figure out first what kind of life one is to live.

And one does not know what he wants, or what kind of life he wants to live, until he finds it.

The process involves exploration; it also involves leaving all that is familiar...

So says I.B. Sambot in his web journal entitled 'It's my life'.

Life in Lao is laid back and simple. The people are poor, but they seem content (although it's easy for Westerners to assume that people are happy to be poor). Many of them have no running water or toilet, but have a massive satellite dish so they don't miss the latest Thai soap opera!

Any foreign visitor is so spoilt out here. We can live in relative luxury for $30 a day. Usually our budget for Asia has been US$50 a day. I Vietnam we kept well in budget, Cambodia we went over budget and in Thailand we were about spot on. In Laos however we could live on $15/20 a day easily.

While pondering on this (and other things) one day, we examined the art of travelling and its application to real life. Here are a few of our musings:

1. The more you carry, the harder life becomes.
2. Pick your travelling companions wisely. It is easy to be led astray.
3. Listen to those travellers who have been there and done it, but check their wisdom with a guide book in order to find out if they are a crazy person.
4. Learn to appreciate the lie of the land. You can't always be on the mountain top.
5. Your best stories come from the tough times.