Dengue Fever and Laos

Turns out some time around the end of December I had an unfortunate encounter with the wrong mosquito . We stayed a week in Chiang Rai but I didn't get out to much as I had come down with a mild case of Dengue Fever. Basically low fever and lots of joint aches, not much fun but at least we were in a nice guest house and Huong kept me supplied with hot tea. I wish I could find out if I can get it again!

After a week or so we got on a fairly rough local bus for the 3 hour ride to the far NE corner of Thailand, Chiang Kung. Here we cross the Mekong River and board a boat for a two day trip into North Central Laos, Luang Prabang. This is a very lovely place and is a world heritage site and has been aided much by UNESCO because of it's historical significance. It was developed by the French and is a small city full of beautiful buildings and travelers from all over the world.

The weather here is pretty much perfect! Just like a warm June in Yamhill County, every day! It cools off a bit a night except in the mountains where it is just plain cold at night. Bamboo huts have no heaters in this part of the world.

As I'm not up to speed on posting pictures, I have included a link below which loads fast and has many pictures of the trip and around Laos in general. I am continually amazed every where we go in SEA how well they have geared up for western tourism in recent years. For the most part getting around here is very easy and the guest houses are modern, clean and very nice.

We will get a VIP bus as they are known here for the 5 hour trip south in a day or two to begin the trip south through Laos.

http://viptravel07.com/laos/englpbpht01.html

for many pictures of SEA. Also Google Earth has lots of pictures from this part of the world.

Christmas in Cave Lodge

At this point I think the place we stumbled onto just before Christmas is the high point of the trip for me.  It was so beautiful and peaceful we stayed a week and I could have stayed a month.

cavelodge.com will give you a feel for the place.