We spent 5 weeks in Laos, with no particular route in mind. Some guy we met at the motorbike rental company in Vientiane told us about irresistible rock climbing down South. This was the direction we wanted to head to anyway and we even got more curious now. We’ve never imagined Laos a climbers paradise but we were ready for a nice surprise. Once we approached the area down South, it was clear that sooner or later someone had to have the idea to open up a place for rock climbing. We came across this really amazing lodge just off the main road, located in a small valley: the Green Climbers Home. We almost missed this place; only out of curiosity we turned right off the main road coming from Thakhek on our trip around the “Loop“.

We changed our plans immediately and stayed for 2 nights. The lodge is run by 2 Germans who passed through the area a couple of years ago. They were rock-climbers themselves and just decided to stay. Obviously this is still possible in Laos and with some connection to “Green Discovery Laos“, they began to build. One of them was a carpenter, which made things easier for sure – after all, craftsmen know how to build things. You can climb on various routes around the lodge and if you have enough of climbing, go for a swim in the river behind the lodge, visit one of the many caves or you just settle on your terrace with a hammock and a book…

Laos is a real climbers paradise.

Only experienced climbers will find their way along the mountains in Laos.

Green Climbers Home Lodge near Thakhek, Laos.

Relaxing at the Green Climbers Home Lodge in Thakhek, Laos.

The landscape around Thakhek, Laos.

A mountain face near Thakhek, Laos.

The landscape near Thakhek, Laos.

Of course there are exceptions to be found – like for example only men sell tobacco – but the rest is in the hand of women. I guess that men rather tend to keep cattle than selling it. Why? I can only speculate :) Maybe it’s easier to walk around with the herds all day, lying under a tree and dreaming about the new cellphone … nah, I’m just kidding :D But I do have to say that during all of our travels, we’ve noticed that a lot of really tough work (carrying rocks in India and so on) is done by women. I’d really be interested on why this is the case. Input anyone?

Market woman in Laos selling vegetable.

Market woman in Laos selling fish.

Market woman selling meat.

Local business at a market in Laos.

Women selling goods.

Anyway, on a well assorted market (if you come at the right time in the morning) everything is in full swing; people are arriving and leaving … some of them even travel the entire night to sell their goods at the weekly market. It’s a place of gossiping – which is very women like of course – and chit chat. At least before the mobile phone was introduced to the even remotest area … So the markets are always a noisy affair and people tend to check goods which they are going to buy very thoroughly (whether these are veggies, herbs, eggs or meat).

Fried maggots.

Bugs at a market in Laos.

Fish at a market in Laos.

Yes, and at these markets you can find things that will never ever (!) appear in a (western) supermarket.

The photos below are all very bearable (in our opinion) but if you want the “real tough stuff”, you should check out our article about wet markets around the world (caution – this is nothing for veggies or vegans!!)

1. Bush meat (alive or dead).

Bush meat is still a common sight on many markets in remote areas – no matter if the animal is protected or not. One has to understand that these people are mostly not very educated and well, meat is meat … One of these protected animals is the Aguti. It’s a very rare endangered rodent. We spotted an animal on a market in Thakhek, which looked quite similar. We we’re only able to take one picture because the stall woman covered it immediately and it was gone when we came back to the stall after a while.

A dead Aguti at a market in Vientiane, Laos.

Bush meat at a market in Laos.

2. All sorts of other dead animals.

Whether it’s just a fish or a skinned bulls head – you’ll find whatever your heart desires (not desires for that matter).

3. Fresh vegetables.

The Lao kitchen is one of the best in Asia. If you know what not to eat (pork, etc.), you pretty much can’t go wrong with whatever is on the menu. Vegetables are always fresh and tasty!

4. Fresh fruits.

If you’re a fruit lover, South-east Asia is the right spot for you. You’ll get fresh papayas, mangoes, pineapples, water melons, rambutans and many many more at any market.

5. A lot of people.

As I already said, people come together at markets, so it can be a very crowded place. Especially if the market is only once a week. Then the entire village (and of course the surrounding villages) can be found there. So, if one wants a true experience of a country and their people, one of the first visits should be to the local market.

The Quiet Capital.

We stepped out into Vientiane and were totally amazed that the airport was almost deserted. Finally after changing some money we caught a taxi to our pre-booked hotel. The airport was not far from the city, so we were there in less than ten minutes. Our hotel was an old renovated building at the river front with huge rooms and a lovely pool – so it was a nice spot to spend New Years at. After settling in, we started exploring the city and immediately noticed that this capital was different than other capitals in Southeast Asia: not a lot of traffic, only few tuk-tuks, some motorbikes and cars which all drove very orderly & slow. Nothing compared to busy and bustling cities like Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City … The Mekong river is flowing languidly along the board walk, which is almost finished with the refurbishment (to give the city a flashier look). Some buildings along the river front are still in pretty bad shape though.

The inner part of Vientiane is a bit more lively. The area around the bus station is probably the busiest place in town. Vientiane is also not as large as other cities and therefore everything can be reached by foot, though travellers tend to rent bicycles or motorbikes, to get around faster. “PVO Motorcycle Rental” on Norkeokumman Road has good bikes to rent and allows driving anywhere in Laos as well (this is where we rented our motorbikes). You have to leave your passport but that’s no problem because no one is going to want to see it (unlike for example in India) when travelling through Laos.

As Laos was once French territory, it’s easy to find shops selling wine and champagne (which was lovely for New Years). You’ll find a lot of different restaurants serving all kind of food in down town Vientiane. We opted for local cuisine – why eat Sushi in Laos? – and found an extraordinary little restaurant called “Lao Kitchen” in Rue Hengboun close to Lao National Culture Hall. This place serves authentic Lao food and has a very very pleasant ambience – highly to recommend!

Street Markets Ahoy.

The market behind the American Embassy sell a lot of curiosities: antiques, animal parts like rhino horns or  tiger claws. We were a bit suspicious if these were fakes but who knows … if there is a demand, it could be. In that case, poor animals! At the wet market in Vientiane you’ll find different kinds of strange food like bush meat , toads, frogs and snakes. You can also buy them the “take-away version”. There’s definitely plenty to explore here.

With our rented motorbikes we drove to the Buddha Park, which is a sculpture array about 25 km Southeast of Vientiane. The statues are made of concrete and often have a religious theme … some are really bizarre with a labyrinth inside the structure which you can follow until you find your way to the highest outlook.

In the evening a night market opens along the riverbank and on the street side lots of food stalls open their kitchen, offering all sorts of yummy food. Some places even have mattresses where you can lay down and eat your meal while lying – this was not ours though …

And one more thing that should be mentioned … all through our days in Vientiane, we hardly saw any beggars or homeless people. Of course there are some but a very educated Lao man told us that unless you are very very lazy, nobody in Laos needs to starve. There is enough for everyone and if you are bright and clever you can live a very good life in Laos. So maybe that’s why almost everybody has a smile on their face :)

If you want to read more about our motorbike adventure through Laos, please check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our trip.

A must visit monument in Vientiane: Pha That Luang Temple aka “The Golden Temple”.

Communist Laos has around 5 million Buddhists, who form roughly 70% of its population.

Early in the morning you will see several monks walking along the river bank of the Mekong river.

As slow as the Mekong river runs through Vientiane, life along its banks is.

When the Mekong runs low in Vientiane, the river banks are used as walkways.

Motorbiking through Laos was one of the best adventures ever. And as you can see, we had heaps of fun.

Goldsmiths can be found at the market in Vientiane just behind the American Embassy.

Selling goods at a market in Vientiane.

Finding grilled frogs at the markets in Vientiane is nothing uncommon.

Grilled fresh fish at a food stall in Vientiane.

About 450 km – Travel time (suggested) at least 4 to 6 days.

In case you haven’t gotten to reading Part 1 of out motorbiking trip through Laos, please read it beforehand :)

After Thalang, the road started getting really bad so we filled up our motorbikes with petrol, bought some bottles of water and a few bananas – just in case.

Along these 60 km to Lak Sao, the roads lead through pristine rainforest. Nature is still stronger at this part of the world and we doubt that the road will be paved soon since the terrain is simply too difficult. Anyway, so on the roads we sometimes had our little chases with the logging trucks which at some points were a bit harrowing but nobody could drive very fast in this area.

After we passed a couple of real jungle villages (where provisions are really hard to get), we were relieved to arrive in Lak Sao. On that evening it was so chilly and even the locals had little makeshift stoves running to get their hands and feet warm. A hot soup was the only food available (which was perfect anyway) and a tiny little room with a hot shower helped as well. Lak Sao is a town close to the Vietnam border and therefore the market has a lot of activity. All sorts of insects, scorpions and bush meat is for sale. Cockfight along the road (with heavy betting) topped our great impressions of the area. Lak Sao has a lot to offer and it’s a town that should be explored more thoroughly … next time.

To Ban Nahin (the crossing to Konglor cave), the road goes along a beautiful area, with karst-like mountains and rice paddies in between. In Ban Nahin we found a very beautiful lodge called “Somsanhai Resort”, which was a well deserved place after 3 days on the motorbike. The owner knew what foreigners long for; nice soft beds, a superb restaurant and lots of information about the area and Laos itself. Overall it was an absolutely pleasant stay.

The market in Ban Nahin is also very interesting (as pretty much every market has something to offer). Again with lots of bush meat, strange vegetables and an outdoor hairdresser near the bus station. It got a lot of attention while we washed and blow-dried our hair … we obviously we helped him to boost the business.

Résumé.

We were there in January 2012, so things may change during rainy season! As far as we’re concerned, it was a great trip. Laos itself is beautiful but life is very slow there. Other countries and cities are more “action-packed” but it was a good change for once :) There are so many little things to discover, so take your time and you will not regret it.

About 450 km – Travel time (suggested) at least 4 to 6 days.

We already arrived in Tha Khek by motorbike, but I can definitely suggest to rent a motorbike directly in Tha Khek (if you don’t have that much time). Mr. Ku from the Tha Khek Travellodge – situated about a few 100 meters from the roundabout direction Eastwards on the left side with only a small sign – is the right man for motorbikes. The lodge is a pleasant hotel, with big rooms and a garden, despite the industrial area surrounding it.

After spending a night in Tha Khek, dining at one of the nice restaurants along the Mekong river and visiting the big market with all sorts of strange food, our journey started north-bound from the roundabout.

Ready, Set, Go!

The paved road was excellent and you can visit a few caves (at km 15 is a very large one) along the way. We didn’t get very far because right at km 12 to the right was – without sign – the German run Green Climbers Lodge crossed our way.  This is an absolutely stunning place with pleasant stilt bungalows, a cave in the back, a swimming hole, great food and the opportunity for people (who know how to do it) to climb up the karst walls. Keep in mind that it’s only open from September to March, due to flooding.

We stayed the night and left early next morning. We were told that the entire way to Konglor was paved but we still wanted to have buffer just in case. Turns out that we needed that buffer, since the road isn’t paved all the way. Still, it was a smooth drive up to Nakai where we passed a weird looking landscape due to the building of a giant dam. It left us wondering if this was really the right thing for an otherwise beautiful jungle area. Villages were relocated and are now neatly arranged 50 meters in the back of the tarmac road, one house near the other.  It’s interesting to drive through these villages (most tourists don’t bother to do so). The kids loved it and we were happy to shoot some great photos with us. There was no screaming for pens or lollies (like in other parts of Asia) because people here seem to have enough. We were told that nobody in Laos starves and if you are smart you can achieve a lot…

Here’s part 2 of our motorbiking trip through Laos.

Motorbiking the Loop in Laos.

Ready, set, go! The Loop in Laos would would be one of our great motorbike adventures of the year.

Bugs (Lethocerus), frogs & other dead animals can be found at the markets in Laos.

The vegetable at the markets in Laos looks really fresh (& it tastes amazing too).

The Green Climbers Lodge in Laos is a beautiful place to spend the night.

For this kind of climbing in Laos, you should know what you’re doing…

Dam building leaves strange-looking areas in great parts of Laos.

Dam building for electricity supplies leaves this behind…

The kids in Nakai village were happy to pose for us.

Anyway, the park was built by Bunleua Sulilat, who fled to Thailand in the 70s where he built another Buddha Park known as Sala Keoku. As you might notice, the word “Sala” is a present in both names: Sala Xieng Khoan (in Laos) & Sala Keoku (in Thailand). The word “Sala” means the place where you can meditate or recover. This is why the park is “used” by many monks for resting, reading or studying.

When walking through the park, you’ll come across some bizarre statues of humans, gods, animals, demons and an enormous sculpture of a sleeping Buddha. One notable sculpture in the park resembles a giant pumpkin. It consists of three stories representing hell, earth and heaven. Visitors can enter through an opening which is a mouth of a demon head (second photo below) and climb up a staircases (from hell to heaven) where you’ll have an amazing view of the park.

The park has something distinctly ancient looking about it. Giant Buddhas lounge as Vishnu looks on, and Shiva menaces both with eight arms full of weaponry.

The more than 200 statues, filled with cryptic symbols, concentrated in a small area give the Xieng Khuan park spot an aura of horror fantasy.

Xieng Khuan park was Sulilat’s first sculpture park and was built by the side of the Mekong River, about 25 kilometers from Vientiane. Said to have been built by himself and his students the park is an astounding display of outsider artistry.

Among these ferro-concrete sculptures are skeleton thin Buddhas, a giant pumpkin with with a demon head for an opening and three floors representing Heaven, Hell and Earth as well as a gigantic 40 meter long reclining Buddha.

In fact, the Xieng Khuan, or “Spirit City” park was built in 1958 by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat. Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat was a priest-shaman, myth-maker, mystic and sculpture artist with a large following in Laos and later in Thailand.

Sadly, the place is about to fall into ruins because of floods from the Mekong River and a general lack of conservation. If it is now already a place of surreal lore that looks of ancient ruins, it will surely transform into something even stranger when it actually becomes ruins.

Adrenalin meets conservation in this eco-friendly adventure in the Bokeo Nature Reserve wilderness. The Gibbon Experience is a series of  ‘ziplines’ criss-crossing the canopy of some of Laos’ most pristine forest, home to the black-crested gibbon. Above is the main treehouse from where all the zipping action starts.

The idea.

Poaching, logging and slash-and-burn farming are destroying primary forest and its inhabitants in South East Asia.

This crazy french guy had a vision to protect the jungle and with the help of the local people, started building tree houses and a network of zip lines through the canopy of Bokeo Nature Reserve. The concept of The Gibbon Experience emerged. The Gibbon Experience provides accomodation in the treetops (into which he first had to climb into for adjusting the first cable) and you can “fly” over the forest to meet the wildlife. The funds received are reinvested to protect the forest.

The Gibbon Experience is the closest you will ever get to playing Tarzan; living up 40m above the ground in a tree-house within thickly forested hills and swinging high across valleys on incredible ziplines, some more than 500m long.

Zipping.

This was the most fun I have ever had! All I did for three days was zip from one platform to the next. If feels just like flying when you’re over 100 meters above the ground. Fantastic! In between the zips you walk through the Laos rainforest to get to the next zipping point.

For me, the Gibbon Experience made me feel like a real superhero. The days where filled with zipping through the jungle.

Rainy season.

If you visit the Gibbon tree house during the rainy season, it can happen that your car gets stuck in mud and you have to walk the distance to the tree house for about 8 hours. While we were there, we had to walk both directions (2 x 8 hours = 16 hours!) because it was simply too muddy for the truck to get through. It’s more than hardcore trekking but it’s a wild experience as well!

We did the Gibbon Experience during the rainy season, which meant walking a lot more due to the fact that the car couldn’t bring us into the jungle. Back then it was a pain in the ass, but today I wouldn’t want to miss out on this special adventure.

Dresscode.

So, don’t just bring your trekking shoes but also comfortable cloths. Nothing fancy becasue everything’s going to be dirty within the first couple of meters (as you can see below – and no, I didn’t slip!). While zipping your cloths might also get some oil stains and we all know how hard it is to get them out if you don’t have a washing machine on hand. Bring a rain coat (or buy one there) and make sure your bags are waterproof becasue it can rain, and rain, and rain for hours. Pull your socks over your pants to make sure leeches don’t get a chance to suck your blood (one girl didn’t do that and she had about 10 on each leg – not fun!).

Bring comfy cloths & shoes for the hike. It’s also advisable to bring a torch, water bottle and gloves, but otherwise leave most of your baggage behind. Everything you bring you must carry in and out of the jungle yourself.

Shoes.

If you don’t have the most comfy shoes, get rid of them immediately! Buy a local pair of shoes. They are 100 % plastic and definitely the best ones for this kind of hike! I can really recommend them to you. You can buy them at the local shop where you stop before you’re on your way to the tree house.

The best shoes for the Gibbon Experience are the ones you get in the hut just before you board the truck. The local guides also wear these and they know why. And after all, you’re not going to a Hollywood movie premier.

The tree house.

Once you made the 8 hour hike, you’ll arrive at the fantastic Gibbon tree house. Soon you’ll realize that it was all worth it. The tree house is not huge but that’s why there’s a limit of 10 people for each expedition. Everything is amazing about this adventure and I can’t wait to go back there again!

The living & dining room of the tree house. At night, large spiders on the walls and rats rustling in the ceilings will be your companions, but you’re in the jungle after all.

 Helpful tips.

The following items should be brought by everyone:

• Flash-light.
• Mosquito repellent.
• Gloves for zipping!
• A water bottle for the hike.
• A book for those who don’t want to zip all day.
• A couple of cereal bars.
• Fully loaded batteries & reserve battery packs.