For Mom, Love Steve

Some nice scenery south of Luang Prabang.

The little town where I stopped for the night. Jars were about a ten hour drive away, but that would have encompassed me getting up at 6am and then riding my ass off. I don’t like to do either so stopped here. It is at the crossroads of Phonsovan and

The guesthouse where I stayed. A couple of ladies ran the place (with no men in sight.) They had a restaurant downstairs which was spic and span so I chose to stay there over the other guesthouse which was over a general store or the only other place which was just plain scary. The room was a clean little cell but there was only a 50 gallon drum for showering. Still a nice place to stay after the mega touristy place like Luang Prabang.

I could have had Thanksgiving dinner. This was the genuine object as when I did my turkey call (original asian redneck I am) it responded by puffing up, cackling and strutting.

I guess I should have said bomb craters and jars. This area was the most bombed, ever, anywhere.

Got Jars? The plain of jars is a plain with jars. Thousands of these chiseled out rocks were formed into jars. They are not quite certain for what they were used, some say burials, water storage, food storage, jam, but I think it follows along with the pyramids and the Great Wall. Back in the day and I guess even now, when you are the King, in order to keep control you have to keep people busy. If not people get bored and they revolt. This way you have a lot of people employed, working, and less prone to revolt.

Jars, jars, everywhere jars.

They even had lids.

Actually, the main reason I came here was to find parts for Sasha. Supposedly there was a mechanic here who had the parts that I needed. After a big wild goose chase which panned out nothing but blank stares I saw a Minsk at an internet cafe. It turned out to be a local guy who actually spoke some English. He told me of a place so I went there but it turned out to be a place I had already went and gotten the blank stares. When I went back to the guy he went back with me and they told him that it was not possible (no parts). He then took me to the local guys place which was the best Minsk guy around. (Directions on my Minsk repair page). The guy replaced the bad parts in about a half an hour and I was on my way. Sweet.

This internet place sucks. Anyways, I am off to see plains of jars II and III. They also have great info on UXO (Unexploded ordinance) which I am going to check out. So stay tuned for more jars and of course lids.

The good old Mekong River. LP is a major tourist hub as it is a World Heritage site as well as a major jump off point for pretty much everywhere in Laos. You have flights, road, and with the Mekong river travel.

There are crap loads of temples around and all have their standard orange clad monk students hanging around. I have to say that I think the flourescent orange is a bit tourist driven color. Where did they get flourescent orange dye’s thousands of years ago before the tourists came. Sell outs if you ask me.

Big Buddhas everywhere.

Now this one is cool.

More temple shots.

Sunset on the Mekong.

I am a bit bummered that I will probably not do a river trip on the Mekong as I have hit a few of the world’s major river systems like the Amazon and the Congo. Oh well, possibly in the south.

Picking up dinner at the night market. My standard dinner was a big river perch, a bag of sticky rice, and four donuts.

Sasha developed a gear box problem when I started to lose first and second gears cogs. I was really happy to learn from Justin (Nepal) that he saw a Minsk place in Luang Prabang. The place is called Revs n More and they rent/repair Minsks. It is run by a German guy (Andy) a true Minsk fanatic.

Checking out Sashas guts.

Unfortunately they did not have any spare cogs so he referred me to another place at my next destination. In the meantime they welded the teeth and filed them as a temporary fix.

Ever wonder where those fried bugs come from that you get at the market. Well, they don’t grow on trees. Actually, I guess they do. Well, they have to come off the trees some how and this is how they do it. If you notice the plastic net is actually a rain suit with the ends sewed up. Pretty ingenious. At the top is about a foot or two of extending bamboo which is the tickler and knocks the bugs off. The guy was having a good old time hunting bugs with a net in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Ahhh the life. No worry about the economy for this guy. Everybody needs fried bugs.

This is the tourist boak from I think Pak Beng. Wall to wall tourists. Looks like fun, not.

A little but of variety for dinner. I went with the bbq sausage, chicken, and pork, with some sticky rice, and of course four donuts to make a balanced diet. Sprite and water to cleanse the palette. I am posting this after the fact as it will come into play later.

Upon entry into sunny Laos. Laos was much more rural than Vietnam. It was almost a 100kms before I even hit tarred roads. The best ... [Continue reading this entry]