Can Tho

Good morning Vietnam!

Since we have a flight to catch in two weeks it was time to leave Cambodia behind and hop over to Vietnam. Our first stop was the vast Mekong delta and it's biggest city Can Tho. The city was bigger than we thought but still very nice and friendly. The architecture was a nice mix between new and old and they had a lovely riverside boulevard.

The main reason for coming here was however the Mekong Delta with it's floating markets. We booked a 7 hour tour through our hostel. Since the markets are at their best early in the morning we woke up at 4.45 in the morning to head out on the river. Our first stop was Cai Rang, the biggest floating market in the area. This is only for re-sellers so it was filled with big ships selling fruits and vegetables. Here we also got a nice cup of Vietnamese coffee.

Then we had a quick visit at a rice noodle factory were we saw the whole process for making noodles and also got the chance to try some of the stages ourselves.

The second floating market was called Phong Dien and this was a very small and cosy one where the locals went to shop.

Then we were off slowly cruising through the lovely countryside and the beautiful small canals with water coconuts hanging over the sides. Perfect ending for our trip following the Mekong down from northern Laos.

Since we got up so early in the morning, we still had almost the whole day left to explore the city after tour. So we walked around the streets, were gazed at by locals and ended up visiting the busy Can Tho market in the evening. Here they ha lots and lots of colourful, fresh produce, everything from seafood to fruits and herbs. And everything lined up on both sides of the street, easily accessible by motorbike.

  

Si Phan Don

After our motorbike adventure we needed a vacation. Si Phan Don (Meaning 4000 Islands) was the perfect place for that. It's located in the southernmost part of Laos, next to the Cambodian border, where the Mekong river is 4 km wide. The river is dotted with thousands of smaller and bigger islands. We chose Don Khon and Don Det, two bigger islands in the south, connected with a bridge.

First we spent four nights on Don Khon, mostly chilling at our guesthouse while gazing over the Mekong and occasionally going for a swim to cool down from the heat.

Sunset over Mekong, the mountains in the horizon are in Cambodia 

Cows gone amok in a garden near our guesthouse

The biggest sight on Don Khon was the Tad Somphamit Falls.

Here we also got really close to some water buffalos. They didn't mind us at all.

We also took a boat trip with a local to go see the biggest waterfall in Southeast Asia: Khone Phapheng Falls. It's not very high but the water volume coming through here is gigantic: 9 500 000 litres per second (double that of Niagara Falls). The best part of this trip was that our local guide took us to a small island right next to the waterfalls. There was no one else here, but we could see all the other tourists standing on the other side of the river.

(Picture by Vanja)

We also had some delicious grilled Mekong fish

From Don Khon we moved to the other side of the bridge to the southern tip of Don Det for four more nights. Here we had a bungalow next to the river from where we could watch the sunrise from our balcony.

Here we also enjoyed our last cup of Lao coffee so far. Lao coffee is very strong an thick, and served with sweet condensed milk.

Every once in a while we went cycling around the islands

On our last day in Si Phan Don we went to the southern tip of Don Khon where you can also see Cambodia in the horizon.

Our main reason for coming here, though, was the possibility to see the very rare and nearly extinct Irrawaddy Dolphins. In Si Phan Don there's only a couple of them left. We took a boat early in the morning and since we were the first ones here the dolphins were actually quite active. We didn't get a good photo of them but if you look closely you can see the fin and back of a dolphin in the picture. Sometimes they came quite close to the boat but mostly they kept their distance.

Vientiane

Next up: the capital of Laos. It didn't feel like a capital, though. More like a medium sized very cosy city. Especially the areas close to the river.

Here we visited two of the biggest sights in Vientiane: the Patuxai (their local Arc de Triomphe) and the golden stupa Pha That Luang. A picture of this stupa can be seen on every bill of the local currency: kip.

In the evenings people gathered around the river. There was a night market, good food and also aerobics class you could join for free! We didn't join the aerobics but enjoyed a nice hot pot instead.

Between the city and the river there was a small island of sand that you could walk to now during the dry season. On the other side of the river is Thailand.

Luang Prabang

After the two days we spent on a boat on the Mekong we arrived in Luang Prabang - a world heritage town and the former capital of Laos. Here the streets are filled with houses of french architecture and golden buddhist temples.

In Wat Xieng Thong there were some beautiful mosaics, including this tree of life.

Luang Prabang is in the northern Laos and surrounded by mountains, so it was actually a bit colder here than we had expected, some days only around +10°C during the night and +20°C during the day. So our jackets came in handy here. Here you can also see the national flower of Laos: the frangipani.

Some medicine sold in the local Night Market.

Unfortunately Luang Prabang is one of the many areas in Laos where you can't really go off the beaten track. We visited the UXO (Unexploded ordnance) Visitor center to learn more about the devastation Laos encountered during the Vietnamese war when USA dropped tons of bombs over the country even though Laos had been declared a neutral zone. 1/3 of the bombs never exploded and were left in the nature. Deaths still occur every year.

The most beautiful attraction in Luang Prabang is the Khuang Si Waterfalls, located a 40 min drive outside the city. The waterfall itself is very high and you are able to climb on top of it, but the best parts are all the many turquoise pools that follow the waterfall. In some of them you could even go for a swim. The water was quite chilly but very refreshing.

Beer is much cheaper here than in Thailand, therefore:

Beerlao - Beer of the wholehearted people.