Lucas and Aiden got themselves a surfing lesson. Aiden was too scared to go, but Lucas had a great time.

One evening I went to see Thai boxing or Muay Thai as it is called locally.

I asked the rest of the family if anyone wanted to join me, but they all said no (it is the national sport of Thailand).



I had been once before long time ago in Bangkok and wanted to experience it again.

I decided to pay the bit extra and get a VIP seat right next to the ring and that was definitely worth the extra money.

There were 8 fights that evening. The first fight was between two kids around 11 years old. Especially the kid in black shorts was very strong and was dominating the fight throughout.













The second fight was between two older teenagers. Again the kid in black was dominating the match.






The third fight was between to women, a Canadian and a Thai. The canadian girl looked very relaxed and was definitely ready to fight. The Thai girl had no chance against her and the match ended in knockout.

Before each fight they go through this unique dance ritual.









I was privileged to sit next to one of the judges who has happy to talk, so between each round I could ask him questions about the scoring system which is rather confusing.

The 4th match was between a French and a Thai. The foreigners are really dominating this sport now and the Thai's were generally struggling.

















As with all the fights wit foreigners this fight also ended in a knockout.



The 5th fight was back to two Thais fighting.





















One of the last fights was between a brazilian and a Thai. When walking into the ring you could tell that the brazil was very strong.




He started by kicking the Thai in the chest and then punched him in the face.

The fight lasted less than a minute before a knockout.








The last fight was more in the heavyweight class, again between a brazilian and a Thai.

This fight was full of power and again it ended up in knockout.





































After the fights I happened see the winners lining up out the back. I managed to get a photo with a couple of them.




...yeah, I look really convincing there.








This evening was definitely one of my highlights from the trip and if we were going back then I would probably go again. The atmosphere is amazing and if the fighters are good then the experience is phenomenal.

One morning Kim booked a trip out to some of the smaller islands of Phuket.

The trip was in a large speed boat and initially the family didn't want to go because they were worried about getting seasick, but eventually they changed their minds.



The boys loved the experience and were very proud wearing their life jackets.








On the island we could feed the fish from the beach.
















And there was time to play in the water for the boys (and a bit of snorkeling for me).



















It is also good to see that they are still using their long tail boats for traditional fishing.

After visiting the big Buddha we stopped to feed a baby elephant.

The kids were a little overwhelmed by its trunk, but fun nevertheless.

After Wat Chalong we went up to see the Big Buddha on top of a big hill.

The Buddha itself is 45 metres tall and is very impressive.



They have been building there for the past 10 years and will probably be building for at least another 10.





While there we also did a little prayer for Kim's mum.







And Aiden being his cheeky self did the 3 monkeys pose.




And they loved the big gongs (which you actually rub rather than gong).






Surprisingly they also in a far corner of the compound had some indian gods, but maybe not so surprising since we were close to Myanmar with a large indian based population (lots of Myanmar people in Phuket).

One morning we ventured out to see one of the islands biggest temples, the Wat Chalong.

It is a magnificent temple with lots to see and it was a pity that the rest of the family didn't want to join us.





















The temple contains what is said to be a bone fragment of buddha.




And the temple itself is full of golden buddhas.







Outside there are some elephant sculptures and across from that an areas where they fire of ceremonial fireworks which really scared the boys (as seen of Lucas face).

The food in Thailand is delicious.

There are so many variations that we cannot get at home and they don't add all that sugar.





Lucas was a bit tired after a morning at the beach at this one.



On KC's birthday we went to an ocean front seafood place.







I don't think the family liked the food in Thailand much though, because they wanted to eat japanese and wanted air conditioned restaurants even though the evenings generally were a bit cooler.

Here are some various photos that I haven't posted earlier.



Here is one of a jumpshot with Kim and I in front of the big Buddha.


Down at the beach there was this artificial wave surfing centre.

The family did lots of shopping.

Kim's family had suits and shirts made and the girls bought lots of shoes.




We also found some great tshirts for the kids.







Although the kids were more interested in the ice cream.

It is fruit season at the moment so we bought lots of really delicious fruits such as Rambutans, mangosteens, mangoes, jack fruit etc.

The street life in Thailand is as it always have been with lots of food stalls and other shops.







Petrol for all the bikes is bought in these small shops as well.




You can even get your feet cleaned by fish.




And handicraft is created there as well (The large elephant piece took him 2 weeks to create).







A new addition is the popup cocktail bars.




It reminds me of the good old days of backpacking where nothing was arranged beforehand. I would just organise accommodation when I arrived to a new place. There is still plenty of accommodation options everywhere if you look for it.

At Vang Vieng we did do some water sports.

Again we were extremely lucky kayaking a section of the river back to Vang Vieng and having the entire river to ourselves.




The three kids were all in a kayak with our guide sitting on top of their life jackets - fortunately they can all swim.



Kim and I was in one Kayak and Sacha and Mavis in another.





Just where we started out there was a rapid with water flowing over a large boulder but with plenty of flat water on the sides. Kim was little impressed when I headed straight into the rapids and with perfect skills paddled us through them...her being soaked and the kayak being full of water may have had something to do with it.



She's later said that the kayaking trip was one of her favourite and most fun activities on the trip, so maybe she was somewhat impressed with my brilliant paddling skills!!







Along the river are still some of the remains of the bars and zip lines - but all very quiet now.



Approaching Vang Vieng we went past some really scenic locations with bungalows etc.









The experience at the end got and all thumbs up!





Another water activity that Mavis and I did was tubing through one of the caves. You essentially sit in an inflated car tyre and then pull yourself along a rope inside a cave. It was fun for the kids, however this place was packed with Koreans trying to do the same thing.

Aiden initially didn't want to go, but I am proud that he eventually managed to get the courage to do so.



We also went to one of the lagoons. There are a number of them and some of them are very popular. We organised with a driver to drive us to one of the less popular ones. It was still scenic and it had platforms of the trees to jump from and you could see why some travelers would have killed themselves jumping off them.







There were also a couple of rafts which reminded me of the first time I went to Laos and paddles across a local river on a raft. It got on one of them in the lagoon and the whole thing literally sunk under me - I only just managed to get off in time before getting soaked.

The second one was able to hold my weight and I took the boys for a little paddle.

At one of the caves in Laos there is this amazing Buddha statue inside the cave.

I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the diffused light was falling onto the statue itself and through the entrance to the cave. We were there all by ourselves and I asked Kim to sit and offer a little prayer in the ray of light coming in through the cave.

I didn't bring a tripod with me to Laos, so everything had to be shot handheld which was tricky as there wasn't much light there.

In Vang Vieng we also went to some caves. Again we were the only ones there - I don't know if this was just because no one else were interested or because we went there at a time when everyone else were doing other activities.

The caves are in fairly pristine condition, they are dark, moist and other than descending a makeshift ladder walking through them gives a feeling of exploring the caves for the very first time.





Some passages were really narrow






And other parts of the caves were massive.










Overall the caves are beautiful and again it was amazing having them to ourselves.

The tribes of Laos still exist although it is no longer as noticeable.

They no longer wear their traditional costumes but it is possible to glimpse the occasional traditional head wear or dress in one of the shops.








It is especially sad to see the Hmong tribal wear gone as worn below by Mavis and Kim. The Hmong traditionally lived in the mountains. The government has forced them down into the lowlands where they can be controlled and 'integrated' into the the rest of Laos.

On the first day in Vang Vieng we hired a local guide to take us through the country side and some of the villages around Vang Vieng.



Hiking through the countryside in Laos is partly magical and at the same time an eye opener. It is not until you get into the country side that you get a glimse of the real Laos and its people, the way of living and their beliefs.

Walking into the first village a group of boys came walking towards us. One of the kids was holding his head with blood dripping down his face. The other boys were taking him home to his parents. I couldn't help but notice that there was a green substance smeared across the wound and asked our guide is he knew what it was. He went over to some bushes and plucked a couple of leaves and said that if you crush them then they will help stop the bleeding. This is when you realise that a lot of the plants in the villages serve a purpose as natural herbal medicine or for eating.

The village was a HMong village and at one of the houses we spotted the little girl above standing in a door opening with her grand mother. There are very few of the traditional bamboo shacks still standing and instead being replaced with brick buildings.




A bit further up the road we heard a sound. Someone was hitting a gong and chanting. Thinking it might be a monk we went to investigate. The sound was coming from one of the local houses. At the back of the house the family was in the process of preparing food, but we couldn't see where the sound was coming from. Our guide asked them and was told that they had a newborn (possibly sick) child and that the Shaman was in the house talking to the 'other world to' attract the good spirits and chase the evil spirits away.



As we walked on we could see him through the opening of the door and I snapped the above photo which is one of my favourite photos of the trip.

In the village people go about their normal life such as this woman removing lice from her daughters hair.



As we walked on we had to walk through the local school. It happened to be recess and the kids in the smaller classes were outside playing.





There was a small stand selling them lunches who also sold lollies, so Kim got the idea to spoil the kids with lollies - but also turned out to be a great opportunity for our kids to interact and see what a classroom in Laos looks like.





The area is still very un-developed. Although there seems to be electricity, this is mainly used for lighting. Cooking is still done by collecting wood and done on wood fired stoves and people still wash their clothes in the rivers and streams.






Although there are still a number of water buffaloes these are mainly used for eating along with any other non-human living animal - such as pigs, dogs, birds etc.













It was very healthy for the boys to see where their food 'potentially' comes from and understand that this is part of life.

The area is full of rice paddies, but these are now worked with mechanical tools rather than buffaloes.






The government has built bridges across the large river to allow access to the villages.




But the smaller streams have bamboo bridges - in this case wide enough to drive a motorbike across, others just a single bamboo to allow a person walk across.




At the far village (Lao and not Hmong) there was a limestone cliff with a small cave in it. This was called elephant cave and inside there was a small shrine along with some bizarre images.







The whole area is spectacular - I can only imagine what it would be like during rice planting season - yes it would be muddy but also stunningly beautiful.














During this whole hike we saw no other travelers. Other than at the cave we didn't get a sense that there frequently came any groups through and I think the feedback from all of us was that this was one of the highlights of the trip - no adrenaline required.

Vang Vieng is an interesting tourism destination in Laos that has undergone several iterations of re-inventing itself.



When I first visited for an overnight stopover it was a sleepy little town with maybe a handful of backpackers going tubing (more on that later).
I also remember the deserted airport runway from the 'secret war' going through the sleepy little village (Lima site 6) and the stunning mountain scenery in the background. Other than that there wasn't much there.



Ten years later my mum and dad visited the place and told me stories how the place had transformed. It had grown and was full of drunk backpackers with loud rave music and parties throughout the night. During the day they were floating down the river in car tubes again with beers and drinks in their hands.



Then again about 5 years ago, Laos appeared in the Australian news media with stories of young backpackers breaking their necks doing somersaults off the tree branches on the river and lagoons and hitting the rocks. Stories of high highly available drugs were also emerged.

The Lao government stepped in and closed the majority of the bars along the river, stopped the parties and the drugs and implemented a number of other safety restrictions.
It worked, the parties stopped and the young party seeking backpackers fled.

A new crowd has now moved in - this is bus loads of adrenaline seeking Koreans. They go there to go kayaking, zip lining, tubing, buggy riding etc. They eat at the Korean restaurants and stay at the same hotels, but otherwise mostly keep to themselves. This also means that some of the same old sleepy feeling has returned to this town. It also meant that is was easy (or just plain luck from our side) to avoid the tourists.

The airstrip is still there, but I recon most visitors would walk across it and not notice and definitely wouldn't know the history behind the secret war in Laos, let alone the American involvement and the little airstrips around the place. It is a fascinating story and has very much shaped Laos into what it is today.



The area is just absolutely stunning with steep limestone cliffs and rice paddies. I could easily have spent more time there taking photos in the surrounding area.

A must see in Vientiane is Pha That Luang - It is on every bank note in Laos and they are very proud of it.



Unlike Buddha Park it is surprisingly quiet when it comes to tourists. The majority of people visiting seems to be either Laos or Thai people offering a prayer. The correct way here is to get the insense and flowers and then walk clockwise around the Stuba on the inside of the covered corridor (mostly to keep out of the sun I assume).





Although it is not particularly old (The original 1st century structure was mostly destroyed and has undergone a number of more recent restorations), it is stunningly beautiful and impressive in size.



For me to get some of the panorama photos here with the selection of lenses I'd brought along I had to take multiple photos that I then had to stitch together.

Outside there is a temple that is equally interesting, although nothing compared to further north in Luang Prabang.





There are also street vendors selling cage birds that are supposed to bring good luck and prayers to anyone releasing them.

One of the sights we wanted to visit was Buddha Park outside Vientiane (close to the border crossing back into Thailand).





Trying to figure out the most comfortable way to get there we settled on taking the local bus. There aren't any taxis as such in Vientiane and we weren't keen taking a tuk-tuk for 30 kilometers. Most of the tuk-tuks are in an extremely poor shape with failing brakes, wobbling wheels and thick smoke coming out of the exhaust pipes.
They are perfectly fine for shorter trips inside the city (such as hotel to bus station), but not recommended for longer trips.

The bus turned out to be easy to find and we were early enough to all get a seat. The bus was later packed with passengers going to Thailand and it would have been tough to stand up for the one hour bus ride.

The bus is also really convenient in that it stops right outside Buddha Park which is the last stop before the bus turns around and heads back to Vientiane.









Buddha Park itself was apparently established by a Monk building the statues for religious purposes as education of his religious beliefs.



It is actually a nice little area and quite interesting with lots of (to us) weird statues showing bizarre things.



The most obvious is the massive 'pumpkin' at the entrance that you can climb. Each level inside the the sculpture itself represents hell, earth and sky.



The entrance is a head with a clock above it - meaning swallowed up by time?





There is also a massive reclining buddha.



And my favourite was the large centre sculpture carrying the body of a woman...no idea what this is supposed to represent.