Indecisiveness. The theme of the trip.
What to do? what to do?I am in Vientiane, capital of Laos. I spent a couple of days in Si Phan Don and then I chickened out of a moto journey with Michael. Well, I didn't so much 'chicken out' as 'not bother' but I digress. I am regretting it now.
So, Nepal. I don't know. I think it will have to be one of those spur of the moment things. I'm going to spend the next 10 days or so in Laos, then head over to Chiang Mai, maybe take a cooking course or a massage course and then head down to Bangkok for the 5 or 6 of Feb and decide based on flights and what the political situation is looking like over there. It seems kinda confusing, some ppl think it's ok, but there will be problems or other people say don;t go. The election is scheduled for the 7th so things may get better or worse after that, who knows. Either way, I would just be passing thru Kathmandu and heading to the hills where there are supposed to be no problems, but I just don;t know.
If I don't go to Nepal I also just don't know. ;)
Decisive chick aren't I?
God you should see the amount of "Happy" stuff there is in Laos. Happy shakes, pancakes, cake or just plain "happy" if thats what you want. As you all know, I am not such a big fan of "happy". I don't esp like the drug scene that is going on here. Everyone seems to agree that Laos is best done in the North and I haven't been there yet so I will let you know what I think soon, but if it were to remain the way it has been, well, I will be leaving Laos soon anyways.
I only have 15 days here, but I do have the option to extend the visa. I will see if I feel better tomorrow.
For all of you who have been out here, I am planning to go N to Vang Vieng (I know drug central, but i need to do the tubing) and then N to Luang Prabang and perhaps a trek a little further N. After that, I am pretty open. Suggestions?
I was thinking Chiang Mai, but that was really just cause I needed to get back to Bangkok to fly to Nepal. Can you guys give me any other ideas?
I am going to examine my SE Asia on a Shoestring tonite. That should help. But as it stands, I am a little less inspired by Laos as I thought I would be, and I am only dreaming of Burma. (...and Montreal- uh oh.)
posted by jjoollee @ 3:28 AM
1 Comments:
well...you've definately found your country...burma...and it's ok to have discovered that.
Laos is laos to different people, and if you haven't dug it as much as Burma, there is no shame in that.
I think Laos is best experienced out of the city centers.
Vientienne is a HOLE. i spent an afternoon there and bailed out. I did a few days in Vang Vien and then went to the Plain of Jars (phonsevan) which was a cool experience...
I really loved LP and just north, Nong Kiaw was enjoyable, and Muong Ngoi was my heaven.
further north than that gets really rustic.
People said they loved Luang Nam Tha. I thought it interesting and glad that i went, but thought better of Muong Ngoi.
I heard great stuff about Chiang Mai. good shopping apparently. just to give you a realistic view about travel time...from here on North is very mountainous. be realistic with travel times. from Vientienne to Vang Vieng is about 4 to 6 hours and the same from there to LP.
LP to Muang Ngoi is another 3 hours or so (you can only get to MN by river from Nong Kiaw...it's about half an hour on the boat).
Whatever you do, you will fine.
i know that in the north of Thailand you can overland back to Burma...have you thought about that???
ok.
must go.
don't worry sweets.
take your time. discover stuff at a pace. you'll know when it's time to come home.
martine
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