Stray Asia Tour

October 11th - October 27th 2011 

We booked our Stray Asia tour back in November last year when we went to STA travel in Reading and booked our first few flights and set the date of our travelling adventure. Jamie our travel agent suggested doing a tour of Laos as he told us it was an under rated gem of a country that not many people had heard of let alone been to. We were sold on the idea when he also said that the tour was on offer at half price! We love a good bargain. Without really knowing what to expect we woke up in our Bangkok guesthouse a little before 5am and walked with our big rucksacks to the Stray Asia office. We met our Laos tour guide, an Aussie named Amanda and a few of the people we would be travelling with, David, Jeremy and Jess.

We set of by bus to Chiang Mai, we had to miss the usual first stop due to flooding so it was a long first journey but with an air con bus, big massage chair seats and a tv we were very happy. (It was very different to the transport we had been used to and Amanda organised the tickets for us which were included in the Stray price.) Chiang Mai was a beautiful place. Whilst there for a couple of nights we made friends with some Thai guys at the local 'Sketchy' bar. They made extremely strong cocktails and played guitars and sang for us. Those nights are ones that we will never forget as we were sharing them with great people too. We did a tour on one of the days where we experienced the amazing Northern Thailand scenery with a ride on the back of an elephant, went white water rafting and bamboo rafting, swam in a waterfall and visited a rural Thai community. It was one of the most memorable days we have spent travelling so far and felt very special as the place where we did elephant riding was beautiful. The animals are allowed to roam freely in massive fields and they are well looked after. We were the only ones riding and our elephant spent more time munching on the grass than walking but that's how we liked it. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

Countryside near Chaing Mai, views during our elephant ride.

The next day wasn't as good a day as we had booked to go to Tiger Kingdom a place where you can meet tigers. We had heard from several people that it's humane and that the animals are not drugged like they are in other places but once we had booked it someone told us that they are drugged. I was conflicted as being a vegetarian who is interested in animal welfare I was worried about supporting a place that may drug animals for tourists enjoyment. We went along and cuddled the massive tigers which was a scary experience. It's something that I won't do again as you can't be sure how the animals are really treated. They seemed happy while we were there and we have been reassured that they are so tame because they have grown up with humans and that the hot sun makes them subdued enough so that you can approach them. In the evening we went to a safari and saw lots of beautiful animals and fed many of them too.

Beautiful Laos Scenery.

Once we had finished our time in Northern Thailand we ventured across the border in to Laos. We crossed the border by boat and got our visa's organised riverside. Laos was such a whirlwind experience where we saw a new place everyday. We picked up some new people in Chaing Mai to spend the tour with, Bianca, Owen, Jim and Tanja. All four were Aussie's and they were all brilliant, hilarious people too. After seeing the White Temple near the Thai/Laos border Jim and Owen made some comments about the 'is he wax or real' monk that sits in the temple all day. They were so funny that we could hardly breathe through laughing.

Some of the experiences and things we did in Laos;

-Rented mopeds and rode the dusty Laos roads to see a waterfall.
-Sampled food in a night market (Craig tried ribs and buffalo, I stuck to bread and delicious deep fried banana!)

-Visited tribal villages.

-Had massages and facials in a quaint town with amazing river and mountain scenery.

-Toured caves and got from A to B with the aid of a long boat rather than the orange Stray bus.

-Visited rescued bears and swung into a waterfall with a rope swing.

-Had an amazing buffet dinner at the night market in Luang Prabang.

-Did infamous 'tubing' in Vang Vieng, so many memories but no photographs to show for it!

-City tour of Vientiane. (We said goodbye to half the group and continued South with Bianca, Owen and Simone.)
-Camped in a national park and went swimming in the river. Sampled Lao Lao in the evening. (Ridiculously strong whiskey!)
-Went 7 kilometres in to a pitch black cave by boat.

Entrance to the dark cave.

-Met local Laos children.

-Drove down tracks in 4x4's where the road is so bumpy we all had sore backs by the end.

-Visited sacred Turtle Lake and saw ancient writings on bamboo in a library.

-Dressed in Laos traditional dress.
-Slept in a Laos family home for the night.

-Walked around Monkey Village where the monkeys steal whatever they can.

-Toured a coffee plantation and learned the difference between arabica and robusta with 'Mr Coffee' a very interesting Dutchman!

-Saw massive spiders and moths and an amazing waterfall.

Amazing waterfall.

-Watched the sun set at a roof top bar.

-Went to Wat Phu, temples which pre-date Angkor Wat.

-Rode bicycles on Don Det, a beautiful island on the Mekong River.


Sun setting over Pakse.

As well as all the activities we ate lovely Laos food and met incredible people. We learned about the Laos language and culture and we saw some of the most beautiful landscapes that I have ever seen. We saw a country that not many people go to, or if they do while backpacking tend to do just party central Vang Vieng for the tubing and miss the rest. When we next find ourselves in Asia we will definately be going back to this amazing country and hope that it is still quiet and relatively undiscovered when we next go. We thank Amanda our Stray tour guide for being amazing and showing us this incredible place. 

 

The Stray Asia group in Vientiane.