The roads in Laos (of which there are few) posess a certain notoriety amongst travellers. I however found them great fun. The road from Luang Prabang to Phosovan (check my map) winds high through the mountain. By winds, i mean a sharp 90 degree twist every 20 or so meters. If you thought the Bilgola Bends was windy, think even more windy, and then extend it across six hours. Six hours could get you 600km in Australia, in Laos it gets you about 150. The condition of the road is not much better, with deep rutts and dusty patches. Twice we were forced to stop as the dustcloud from a passing car had reduced visability to zero. Still it was great fun bouncing arround in our mini bus, and the scenery was constantly awe inspiring as we wound through limestone peaks, high above deep valleys. Whilst beautiful, most were stripped of their timber. Onwards we drove through villages perched on cliftops, with cows and pigs and chickens scattering before the traffic. Throughout the journey Lao and Thai music throbed from the bus speakers. Today however, much to my dismay, western 90s pop music was our soundtrack. It's incongruency with the landscape was quite humorous, as 'i'm a barby girl' blared loudly amidst the mist shrouded peaks.
The landscape of Phosovan was very different, with dry yellow grass fields dotted by trees fringed by low, gentle hills. It was strangely evocative of an Australian landscape, least of all due to the fact the trees were eucalypts. On closer inspection there were also wattles. Even a Spanish man remarked, 'does this not look like the outback?' Why the Australian fauna should be there, I do not know, but it disturbed me to see Eucalypts as a weed in this country.
Phosovan itself was bland and lacking of any charm, mostly being rebuilt after destruction in the war. I still liked it, being far removed from the pretty heritage of Luang Prabang. Mostly it was cold, at night less than 10C. Even the German an Dane who I went to have Indian with that night were freezing. One thing I did not expect was to be that cold in South East Asia.
The landscape of Phosovan was very different, with dry yellow grass fields dotted by trees fringed by low, gentle hills. It was strangely evocative of an Australian landscape, least of all due to the fact the trees were eucalypts. On closer inspection there were also wattles. Even a Spanish man remarked, 'does this not look like the outback?' Why the Australian fauna should be there, I do not know, but it disturbed me to see Eucalypts as a weed in this country.
Phosovan itself was bland and lacking of any charm, mostly being rebuilt after destruction in the war. I still liked it, being far removed from the pretty heritage of Luang Prabang. Mostly it was cold, at night less than 10C. Even the German an Dane who I went to have Indian with that night were freezing. One thing I did not expect was to be that cold in South East Asia.
Beware of the Bollywood pop music when traveling through India - buy ear plugs! Cambodia has lots of eucalypts too.
ReplyDeleteYou can now officially call yourself a traveller as you've graduated through all the ranks - loud, awful music, local bus, long trips on bumpy roads and getting sick.
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