I'm back in Vang Vieng. Time for some pictures from my week up in the north-east.
My first stop after Phonsovan was Sam Neua. As expected it was a long day and I wasn't feeling so great so I decided to spend a day resting in Sam Neua before heading out to see any of the sights I was really up there for. I did wander around and take a look at the town though. Here are some shots from the outskirts of Sam Neua.
I had been planning to head up to Vieng Xai as my first stop but when I woke up on the 18'th I changed my mind and decided to see the monoliths at Suan Hin first. This ended up being a brutal day but was probably the hilight of the far north. To get there I had to catch a pickup truck 2 hours back towards Phonsovan then walk 6 km up to the site. The hike from the road and back would have been long enough except I got sidetracked by a sign pointing to a minor site and ended up hiking about 2 km down a steep hill in the wrong direction. Luckily I met some locals who set me straight before I'd gone even further.
After the hike back up to the top of the hill I was worried that I had lost too much time to make it to Suan Hin and almost turned back (I needed to be back by the main road by 2 PM to make sure I could catch the afternoon truck back to Sam Neua). However I decided to push on and made it to Suan Hin about 10 minutes before I really would have had to turn back. The site was interesting and I was very glad to have made it. After exploring the site I headed back to the road and ended up making it with plenty of time to spare.
Anyway, here's a shot from the standing stone site at Suan Hin.
The next day (we're up to the 19'th now) I headed up to Vieng Xai. This town was the former headquarters of the Pathet Lao during the war. The big draw is a number of caves that were used by the PL leadership. They were expanded and many had whole buildings built inside them. The caves were interesting but I mostly enjoyed the scenery around town. There wasn't much to see other than the caves but it was a nice place to spend a night. In retrospect I wish I'd spent another day up there (and probably would have if the hotel I found hadn't been a bit of dump).
After Vieng Xai I headed back to Sam Neua for one night then made my way back to Phonsovan. Yesterday I finally got to the plain of jars which I'd been saving for the end of my trip up to the north-east. Here are a couple shots from the plain of jars and one from around Phonsovan itself.
And finally here's a picture I took while wandering around the outskirts of Phonsovan after getting back from the plain of jars tour.
I'm going to spend a night or two in Vang Vieng before heading back to Vientiane for either a visa extension or another brand new visa.
My first stop after Phonsovan was Sam Neua. As expected it was a long day and I wasn't feeling so great so I decided to spend a day resting in Sam Neua before heading out to see any of the sights I was really up there for. I did wander around and take a look at the town though. Here are some shots from the outskirts of Sam Neua.
I had been planning to head up to Vieng Xai as my first stop but when I woke up on the 18'th I changed my mind and decided to see the monoliths at Suan Hin first. This ended up being a brutal day but was probably the hilight of the far north. To get there I had to catch a pickup truck 2 hours back towards Phonsovan then walk 6 km up to the site. The hike from the road and back would have been long enough except I got sidetracked by a sign pointing to a minor site and ended up hiking about 2 km down a steep hill in the wrong direction. Luckily I met some locals who set me straight before I'd gone even further.
After the hike back up to the top of the hill I was worried that I had lost too much time to make it to Suan Hin and almost turned back (I needed to be back by the main road by 2 PM to make sure I could catch the afternoon truck back to Sam Neua). However I decided to push on and made it to Suan Hin about 10 minutes before I really would have had to turn back. The site was interesting and I was very glad to have made it. After exploring the site I headed back to the road and ended up making it with plenty of time to spare.
Anyway, here's a shot from the standing stone site at Suan Hin.
The next day (we're up to the 19'th now) I headed up to Vieng Xai. This town was the former headquarters of the Pathet Lao during the war. The big draw is a number of caves that were used by the PL leadership. They were expanded and many had whole buildings built inside them. The caves were interesting but I mostly enjoyed the scenery around town. There wasn't much to see other than the caves but it was a nice place to spend a night. In retrospect I wish I'd spent another day up there (and probably would have if the hotel I found hadn't been a bit of dump).
After Vieng Xai I headed back to Sam Neua for one night then made my way back to Phonsovan. Yesterday I finally got to the plain of jars which I'd been saving for the end of my trip up to the north-east. Here are a couple shots from the plain of jars and one from around Phonsovan itself.
And finally here's a picture I took while wandering around the outskirts of Phonsovan after getting back from the plain of jars tour.
I'm going to spend a night or two in Vang Vieng before heading back to Vientiane for either a visa extension or another brand new visa.
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