Highlights

Highlights after 3 weeks in Laos and almost 2 weeks in Cambodia..

LAOS
1. Learning that rain really hurts at 100 km/hr and that if you have no visor for your motorbike helmet it is impossible to drive more than 20 km/hr..especially at 12am.

2. Trecking into an 'unseen" village completly encirciled by karst mountains with the only entry a 30 min walk through a cave then a 2.5 hour walk through a forrest.



Over the river on a bammboo bridge..


3. Floating down a river in a rubber tube for 5 hours with a beer in hand..

Yep, Vang Vien

Other highlights:
- Visiting the organic farm in Laos and having the farmer offer to let me build a bungalow on his property under the stunning mountains and next to the river for $2500 that i can use any time I want (you can too!)
- Vientiane (Capital of Laos) with the usual Asian chaos but charming and sleepy
- My first meetings with a communist governement - argh! The paperwork!


CAMBODIA
1. Hiking 1.5 hours then ox carting it for 2.5 hours into 3 villages then oxcarting it back for 4 hours.


2. Visiting the Floating village where everyone lives on a house boat - even the local mechanic and the petrol station, temple and department for environment.




It's been fun times meeting over 20 NGOs, tour companies, govt agencies and visiting projects..
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Here in Kampong Spoe and Takeo in Southern Cambodia they were having droughts while i was there. Now (August 26th) they are having floods and landslides..

boring update from Laos

Markets in Luangprabang, Laos



I'm in Luang prabang - the ancient capital city of Laos with lots of temples (north of vientiane). It was a decent hike to get here, 6 hours of winding through krast hills - beautiful scenery but a just little nausiating. Just arrived today from vangvien where i was meeting with the owner of the organic farm there - cute 62 year old Lao man educated as a biologist in Bulgaria.

It's a really beautiful place with a river running past and small krast mountains with clouds sticking to the tops just 200m behind the river. He does a lot of projects with the commuity and i think we (www.worldyouthinternational.com.au) will run at least our first program in Loas through him. I'll post some pics when i can and you'll be amazed that you can build a personal bungalow there for just $2000 on his farm.

Had lots of meetings in Vientiane last week with NGOs and Government to see what we have to do to set up in Laos. It's a pile of paperwork and dodging corruption but i think we've got it figured out..

Going to try and visit a remote village and eco-lodge by boat tomorrow but if not i'll just look around the city at the temples and stuff.

Just having a walk through the night markets tonight.. it's got lots of nice stuff going pretty cheep. I bought a little hand sewn cat and pair of hand made slippers for Nyah from a lady who couldn't even speak Lao. I spoke to Ni on the phone again today.. while you can have a good conversation with her face to face she still doesn't really get the whole thing with phones.. she tends to just repeat what you say, but it was good to hear her voice.

Back to Vientiane on Wed for more meetings on thurs and friday then down to Paxan (pak kading national park) to check out another site on the weekend. Might go to a 7km river cave nearby then it's either down to Cambodia or back to Vientiane (if i need to meet anyone on mon or tues) and to Bangkok then Cambodia.

ok well i'm off to find a fruit shake..


Oh, did i mention that Laos was beautiful?