BA used to be a good airline, now it seems that they will fly anyone, even four legged creatures..

guess there are no computers in laos,or we are not considered worthy of receiving further dull comments...

Well, Laos is still a very poor country. They probably eat pandas if they ever come across one. Can feed a whole village for a week or so.

Don't pay the ransom I've escaped!

No time to go into detail (that comes agonizingly later).

We absolutely love Luang Prabang. It's delightful. Perfect weather, great wandering and delicious food. It has risen to the very top of must-see places.

I did have a run-in with Laotian bacteria, but as noted above, more later.

BTW, who would eat a Panda? Not very tasty, troublesome and the aftermath would be boring.

Don't worry, I'm aware of exactly how narcissistic (Bob that means Self-centered) it is to refer to onmeself in the third person. My story is that I use it merely as a literary device. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Andy
Don't forget to give Tong a hug from Muffin and I. Glad to hear you are having a good time. Looking forward to the full trip report.....

self centered ---YOU!!!???

never...

self-absorbed---always...

how about going to ny GTG on dec 26??

Andy
Sounds like you are enjoying yourselves. I look forward to your full report, even if you DO refer to yourself in the 3rd person... be it narcissistic or not!! lol

You need to work on your ticket to the next HNL GTG in September 08. B and K will be there so you need to come along also and defend your reputation!!

Just a quick update.

In the Bangkok Air lounge at LBX. Very small getting crowded. Only one terminal, so no time.

Carol-Bob's being somewhere is not necessarily an incentive.

We did just eat at IndonChina Spirit, recommended by RhkKmk. It was quite good. Beth had Noodle soup with Tofu and I had a delicious baguette sandwich.

Instead of the $25 car from the hotel, I booked a minivan from a Travel agency in town for $7. On time, very smooth.

Got to go. More when we return to the ROS.

Smeagol-Tong will be glad to hear from you. We see her on Thursday.

looking for a full report

Hope your bout with the Laotian bug was not too tramatic! We all know Pandas think of them selves as big bears, but sometimes they are only Teddy bears...soft!

Back here at the ROS in BKK.

I'll fill in the LP details later.

Unbelievably enough, AAC sent the same driver to take us from the airport to the ROS as they did from the ROS to the airport. Remember, he got lost on the way to the airport. When he saw me he started to giggle uncontrollably. He didn't start talking to himself until we got on the xpressway. It became self-evident why he did not take the expressway to the airport, when he was driving so slowly I thought we were going to get rear-ended. Apparently, speed was not his forte.

His lane changing skills left something to be desired. Of course, he was hampered by his slow rate of speed.

I paid attention to his route and managed to prevent him from taking the Sukhumvit exit. I guess he gets a commission every time he drives on that road. However, in a moment of my inattention, he did duck off the expressway at RamaIV and get us stuck in a massive traffic jam. He did manage to take a left on Silom and not Sathon, so eventually we did arrive about 1/2 hour later than necessary. Beth suggested I go with the flow.

andy, now you know the depth and breathe of the influence bob has with aac. lol.

wise woman, that beth(go with the flow)

hahaha...they did just as i instructed.....now wait until you see what tong is goig to do!!!

i have also suggested to the gen. mgr of ROS that they search your bags as you leave....allow some extra time for this....

and don't let them take our package from thai stone...

Gpanda,

Please send our regards to Tong from her Tokyo friends.
Let us know what other adventures she takes you to. We will have her in March on a Temple/ BKK day.

Have a great time !

We landed in LP on November 23. The prop plane flew through the scenic hills of Laos and slipped onto the one runway. The airport is tiny.

We easily obtained or visas (NB: we had passprt photos with us) and cleared immigration without a hitch. Our luggage was already there. There are only a few flights into and out of LP each day, so each gets much attention.

Outside, we went to the desk and paid about $5 for a car ride to the Masison Souvaphoum. We stayed there after reading Craig's trip report.

The hotel is on the main road about two blocks from the main crossroads. It was a simple walk to everywhere. Not in the middle of things, but well-located.

The hotel is the former residence of a prince. It has 24 guest rooms. We had booked a veranda room through Circle of Asia online. We prepaid, $202 per night, about 60 days ahead of time. after pre-paying, we were informed that we had been moved to a garden room, and we were refunded the difference of $27 per night. It has very nice grounds, a good restaurant and a good pool. It turns out the weather was so temperate that a pool was completely unnecessary.

The bathroom was slighly peculiar. The shower was separated from the room by a half wall of orange plexiglass with a circular hole about four feet from the floor. The design did not work. After a shower there was water on portion of the floor of the room. It was not a big deal, but slightly aggravating.

On the whole, the hotel was quite good and I would recommend it. There are very few upscale hotels in LP and this is one of them. As with many Asia hotels, the towels were not fluffy, but obtaining more was never a problem.

After the long transfer from Phuket, we went on a short walk up the main drag, Sakkaline Road, getting a feel for the place. It's charming.

We returned to the hotel for dinner. We had great vegetarian spring rolls. Perhaps, the best spring rolls we ever had. They were both light and super tasting. We had sod gai and Khai Pak, two very different chicken dishes. Everything was good. The cost was about $15.

Early to bed, so we could get up for the monk procession.

Here's the bad part.

In the middle of the night, I answered a call of nature and without any thought, I was asleep, I had two swallows of water from the tap in the bathroom. Not very clever.

The hotel guide warns against drinking the tap water and I've avoided it on all my Asia trips as a matter of hygiene. Of course, I did not read the hotel guide until the next morning. After doing so, I mentioned to Beth that I had had two swallows and she looked horrified.

I'll keep the entire sad part to this post. There's no reason to foul up the other portions of the trip report with negativity. Fortunately, my thoughtlessness did not significantly interfere with our enjoyment of LP.

I ate a normal breakfast which was part of the room charge. One can imagine. Slabs of bacon, mounds of fruit, loaves of toast, pots of potatoes and many croisants. No sweet pastries because I'm watching my weight.

At about 11:00 a.m., I became very tired. Even though we woke up at 5:00 a.m., this is normal for me and usually I never get tired or fatigued. Think energizer Panda. Beth remarked upon how unusual my tiredness was. But I soldiered on. We were wandering throughout town.

At lunch, my appetite was below normal, so I only had one helping of everything.

After returning to the hotel, I hung out around the pool reading and smoking a cigar. It tasted peculiar.

At about 6:00 p.m., my stomach began to feel funny, another rare occurence and I went to the front desk and admitted my folly and inquired about pharmacies.

The hotel staff was amazing. The receptionist immediately got on the phone and called a pharmacy. She told the pharmacist of my problems and said I would be arriving shortly.

We took a Tuk tuk (obtained by the hotel staff) to the pharmacy. To put things delicately, the tuk tuk ride did little to ease my stomach issues. In fact, the added turbulence, worsened things dramatically.

We arrived at the pharmacy and the pharmacist quickly provided four medicines, including Cipro. No prescription necessary.

The medicines had an immediate effect and I began to feel better. My appetite did not return to its normal ravenous state, but I was able to eat and enjoy the food.

I provide this agonizing detail for two reasons. The first is to repeat the warning about drinking tap water. It's a no-no. I have a cast iron stomach. Nothing ever affects me. This was true before the laotian bacteria. It is no longer true. It could have ruined our time in LP. Thankfully, it did not.

The second is that there is an added safety net to staying at an upscale hotel. They have seen scads of stupid tourist mistakes and are very motivated to help out.

I am glad that because of the drugs your illness was short-lived. There is nothing worse than being sick on vacation. Also glad the MS worked well for you - we loved the restaurant's vegie spring rolls as well.

Keep it coming.

Enjoying your report, and glad you were able to knock out the "don't drink the water" bug so quickly. You are a tough Panda.

LP and MS was also one of our favorite places. Eager to hear more about your time there. Where you able to get out and about to see things despite your traveller's tummy?