HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's 2012!!

I hope you all had a fantabulous countdown on NYE!

I got back to Japan a couple of days ago and the freezing cold is just making me wish I was back in Laos.

What a truly, remarkable and very special country.

It has gone straight into my top 3 favourite countries in the world. 

I have never been anywhere so chilled, so relaxed. Vientiane is hands down the sleepiest capital I've ever visited and the country is so docile compared to it's hectic neighbours! Getting back to nature and completely slowing down was tough, I'm not going to lie, but it was so nice to just kick back and cruise along this slow paced life with my friend. I got a lot of thinking time and reflected a lot about the direction that I want to go in this year.


So let me bring you up to speed with the rest of my holiday - if I can even remember! 


NYE was spent visiting the beautiful Kuang-Si falls in Luang Prabang. GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS!!! It was both exciting and terrifying scrambling through a bit of jungle all the sake of a beautiful view! I was so ill-equipped for any kind of trekking and ended up kicking off my flip flops to get back down this steep hill. I have no doubt in my mind that if I had tried to keep them on, I would have slipped and broken something! The trip up there was a nightmare - of all the tuk-tuks available, we managed to pick the one that had a billion problems wrong with it and spent the whole journey thinking it was going to break down!

The descent

We went swimming in the falls - the water was icy cold - you know when you kinda can't breathe because it's that cold? That's what it felt like but I got used to it to enjoy a little dip before we got sick of being gawped at by other tourists. I'm not joking though - after that day, my thighs were caning for a good couple of days! A sign of my desperately unfit state and also another mental motivation to get my arse to the gym!

The gorgeous Kuang-si falls

Beautiful colours

  
 NYE turned out to be a right surprise! We went back to chill before hitting up the street celebrations when we followed some people and found the nightlife! The 11.30pm curfew until that time had been a bit of a killer, so it was nice to know that it was extended for the countdown and we would be able to cut loose and get wrecked.


And we certainly did that! After stumbling along the streets of Luang Prabang and being embarrassed caught in a fumble, we finally made it back to the hotel...where everyone was already sleeping!! No sooner had my friend's head hit the pillow, he was up again and with his head down the toilet for a good...I don't even know how long it was because I practically passed out myself!!


The next day was brutal. We had to check out and we couldn't check into the next place until in the afternoon. I didn't feel that bad when I got up, but walking through the streets in the blazing hot sun...man, by the afternoon I was feeling like complete and utter crap! But, the beauty of not having planned anything meant that we could afford to spend a day like that. Plus in the meanwhile, we met a fabulosuly interesting woman in a restaurant who understood my love of Brazil and was really nice to talk to.


The next day we hit up the Tad Sae falls. We were really nervous about the weather because when we woke up, it was horrendously overcast and grey. In the space of a few hours, they all cleared and out came the sun and gorgeous blue skies. It wasn't hot enough to go swimming in that icy water though! In the evening we went out for dinner and drinks and met this great British guy. It's rare to find interesting people to talk to when you travel - every conversation becomes the same, but luckily it wasn't like that with him. It was a shame he wasn't hanging around for longer.

The last day in Luang Prabang was perfect. Lazy and beautiful and chilled and perfect. After a nice healthy breakfast, we set of to find a patch of beach along the river. It could so easily be missed and was so quiet. The problem? It was insanely hot and the river wasn't exactly the kind fo place that you could go swimming in. Very rocky on the bottom and with strong currents, we could only paddle, bringing temporary relief from the blazing hot sun.


After a lazy lunch, we went for a nice stroll and found a patch of beach in the shade. We hung out there and then set off to find a good sunset point. It makes me wonder why so many people clamber to the same place when there was all this beach and rocks where you could watch it and with a much better view. The sunset was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. We then headed straight for an early dinner and drinks along the river. The food was great, the conversation was great - it was just perfect. Thank you! (*^_^*)

Stunning senset

The next day we were up early to catch a flight back to Vientiane. I'm not even gonna waste my breath talking about the arsehole owner. All I will say is that he should be grateful that we bothered to pay at all - the informal manner of the guesthouse meant that we so easily could have just left and by the time he noticed, we would have been long gone. 


Back in Vientiane we checked ourselves into the luxury Settha Palace Hotel. I told you about it before - definitely google it! It was a shock to suddenly be faffed over - all the fuss was just annoying and bit embarrassing to be honest! We checked into our room and hung out for a bit - reading about the history of the hotel and admiring the architecture and high ceilings - as well as stealing everything from the bathroom! HAHAHA! We then decided to go and chill by the pool - typical that the one day we had the opportunity to sunbathe, it was cloudy. The sun did eventually break out, but by that time, it was already starting to set. 


That place was so expensive. We had lunch there and after dinner went back for drinks. Probably the most that we have spent during the whole 2 weeks! Outrageous! As gorgeous as the hotel was, it seems like it's a bit wasted in Vientiane. I don't see how they have the tourists to keep it running but hey, they must be doing OK! It was so nice to end our trip in such a luxury and historical place that it didn't even matter at that point!


Then came the laborious trip back to Japan. The whole of the 5th was spent in transit, but the 7 hour layover in Bangkok really wasn't as bad as other layovers that I've had before. Maybe because there were 2 of us, I dunno. We did a spot of shopping - god - dealing with so many different currencies is such a pain!! My friend had completely run out of money, so we were trying to scrimp all this currencies together to get him some food! The flight back wasn't as bad either - mainly because it was shorter, but then when we arrived back in Japan, fatigue hit hard and it was the hustle and bustle of the stations that just made it all that much worse.


Back and work and back to the daily grind now though. My resolve to come back with a better attitude has definitely worked - my first couple of days back have been more relaxed and I've realised that I know what I need to do. Kind of! The break was perfect - it was exactly what I needed.


Laos is such a special country. And it was my pleasure to share the whole experience with such a special friend.


Thank you lovey! 


xoxo