Journeys in Time
We had to get up early to cross the border into Laos. We did have the choice of taking an 800 baht trip offered by the guesthouse. This included taxi to the border, longtail boat across the river/border and then another tuk-tuk to a waiting “special” boat. Adventurous that we all are, we decided to do this all on our own steam. So with rucksacks on backs, off we walked to the Thai border post. This was only five minutes down the road and so didn’t take too long. Once through customs and immigration (a bloke in a wooden hut), we headed down to the river to catch a longtail boat. Easily across, it was time to check into Laos. Unfortunately, a loud American tour group got in front of us, so we had to wait for a while before we could be stamped in. Once through all we had to do was find a boat to take us down the Mekong.
A tout at the border post offered us a place on his boat for 600 baht. It was tempting, but after asking a few questions it looked like we would be packed into the boat like sheep. Instead, myself and Jane headed off to the docks a little further up the road, whilst Debs and Becs changed some dollars in Lao Kip. Once at the docks we found the only other boat that was heading up the Mekong that day. It was the “special” boat and the cost was 800 baht. Never mind, what we lost in money we made up for in adventurous spirit. We caught a tuk-tuk back to the border post to tell the other two the good news. All we needed to do was get some breakfast and buy some supplies for the two day journey. We had three-quarters of an hour so there was no need to rush. Unfortunately, we managed to pick the slowest restaurant in the entire world to have breakfast in. After being served only half of our breakfasts we had to cancel the rest of the order. This was not difficult as the woman hadn’t even started cooking it yet.
“Where have you been?” the booking agent shouted to us as we ran down the ramp, “I didn’t think you would make it in time!”
One advantage of being the last on the boat meant that we had to sit at the back. This bit actually had the nicest seats, a table and plenty of space to lie down and go to sleep. The rest of the passengers were cramped in wooden seats. Why no one had sat at the back I don’t know. I have an idea, and it’s probably that sheep syndrome that we all suffer from at some point. We all settled down for a leisurely two day cruise down the Mekong river.
Our overnight stop was at a village called Pakbeng. Here we checked into a guesthouse, had something to eat at a restaurant across the road, then set out for a few drinks. Our first stop after dinner was a small place that only had candles for lights. Here we had a couple of beers, and I went off to explore the toilet, a glorious Swiss Family Robinson type affair. Or at least it seemed that way in the dark, after a couple of beers. During daylight hours it was probably just an outdoor hut. After returning we set off in search of another place to drink. Here we ordered some famous Lao whiskey. Famous because it is so unbelievable cheap. About $2 for half a litre and three cans of coke. It was not too late a night as we all knew what time the boat left in the morning.
The second day continued much the same as the first. We read, played cards, and sat back to admire the stunning scenery. Every so often we would hear the roar of a speedboat as it thrashed its way up or down the river. We even saw the other 600 baht boat that we could have got, and were glad that we didn’t. We had a couple of extra stops that day. The first one was at a little fishing village. Then it was onto some famous caves just outside Luang Prabang. Our final stop before Luang Prabang was at another riverside village, but I must have slept through this stop.
Arriving at Luang Prabang was like stepping back in time. Even though the city was the second largest in Laos it felt like my home village on a Sunday morning. Dust hung in the air, and there was a sense that it really wasn’t worth doing anything in a hurry. We ended up staying three days, exploring this old royal capital, and to be honest I could have stayed there for a lot longer. The scenery around town was pleasant, there were plenty of little shops to browse in, and the food was good. The people were quiet, friendly and welcoming. The French used to have a saying in these parts: the Vietnamese planted the rice, the Cambodians picked the rice, and the Lao listened to it grow. Something along those lines.
One evening Debs and myself were down by the river taking some pictures, when a guy walked over to us.
“Do you want see the caves?” He asked.
“No, sorry,” we replied, “we have already seen them.”
“Oh well, do you want go to the waterfall?” he suggested.
“Again, we went to visit it, today.”
“Oh sorry, thank you, goodbye.” And off the tout wandered.
This incident stuck with us and we would repeat it every time we came across a pushy tout in Thailand or Cambodia. I expect when I meet up with a couple of friends in Vietnam I will tell them the same story.
Another memorable event happened one evening down the night markets. Debs and Becs had gone off to bed, so I had stayed up drinking with Jane. We had a few more beers then tried to work out the bill. Now Laos is a country which will accept Thai Baht, US Dollars, or Lao Kip for payment. We had no Kip on us and were trying to pay in Baht by converting a Kip bill into Dollars and then back into Baht. We did this because we had no idea as to the value of Kip to Baht. Anyhow we eventually arrived at a value of Baht, plus a little tip for the little girl who had been serving us and translating things for us. Anyhow, the girl wandered off and consulted with her mum. Eventually she came back with some baht and lots of Kip change, we had paid far too much for the beers. Even though we told her we wanted to leave a tip, she said that we should only pay for what we had drunk.
All too soon we had to leave Luang Prabang, Becs and Jane were going to fly down to Vientiane and Debs and myself were going to take the more leisurely route by bus. We undertook the bus journey with some trepidation, as only a few weeks earlier a bus on the same road had been ambushed and most of the passengers had been shot. Even the UN had forbidden its vehicles to take the road that we were going to travel down. For all its apparent risks, the journey was one of the most fantastic I have taken. The scenery from Luang Prabang to the town of Vang Vieng was stunning. The road coursed around and over the mountains of central Laos. I could look through the windows and see down through endless valleys and up at towering peaks. Every so often we would pass a little village on the side of the road. The houses would all raised off the ground and made of bamboo. Chickens would peck at the ground under the house, and a dog would be sleeping in the shade, whilst a pig would wander about. The people would look up from their place in the shade and the children would wave as the bus went by. The only sign of trouble was sporadic patrols of one or two soldiers, with rifles slung over their shoulders.
The town of Vang Vieng was surrounded my the same mountains that had taken us six hours to drive through. Once we had arrived we walked down to the river. As the afternoon sun glistened on the water we watched children play in the river, whilst the mountains towered in the background. Vang Vieng was another town that we could easily have spent a few days longer. Or more precisely, spent longer exploring the surrounding area. Vang Vieng itself was a backpackers haven, with western style bars and restaurants everywhere and guesthouses showing loud movies in the evening. Neither of us liked the town itself much. After Luang Prabang it was much too western, much too crowded with westerners.
After only one night we had to move onto Vientiane to meet up with Becs again. It only took a couple of hours in a minibus before we found ourselves in the capital of Laos. We immediately took a dislike to the place, even though all the guidebooks said it did have its charm. In the late afternoon we went to the old communist-style hotel to meet up with Becs – Jane would already be on her way back to Bangkok and then home to England. Becs told us that after a day of walking about she had come to like the city, not as much as Luang Prabang, but still it apparently had its charm. We stayed two nights before moving back into Thailand. Although the capital did turn out to be pleasant enough, I will always remember Laos for the charm of the old royal capital, the friendliness of the people and that bus journey through the heart of the country.
