Adventures in Laos
After just over a week in Chiang Mai it was time to move on. After shopping around we eventually decided to take the 170 Baht mini bus ride to the Thai/Laos border town of Chiang Khong. Steve and Garath, the two English lads that had arrived with me in Chiang Mai were coming along, as were Aaron and Shaz the Kiwi couple I had met on the cooking course.
On the morning of April 27 I woke early but lay awake until my alarm went of at 8am. I got up showered and got ready. In the week I had spent in Chiang Mai my pack had been completely unpacked plus I had a huge bag of clean laundry which I somehow had to find space for. Somehow I got everything in, including the cooking souvenirs, but my bags were now bursting at the seams.
Fortunately we were the first to be picked up by the mini bus, we assumed we were the only passengers and thought our luck was in. No such luck all 10 seats were eventually filled, even a fellow Capetonian crawled out of the woodwork. His name was Mark and he soon joined our little group.
With 10 people plus the driver the bus ride was sticky and hot, even with the little air conditioning that the bus was providing. The journey took us further into northern Thailand through heavily forested hills and rolling farmlands. The driver would hurtle around the mountain bends causing us unsuspecting travelers to glance up with concern just in time to spot the Thai road sign indicating a “Sharp Bend”. Is it custom in Thailand to place the warning sign after the hazard?
After five hours we arrived at the little town of Chiang Khong and were left at our pre-arranged guesthouse on the banks of the Mekong River. The town is very small, used mainly as a stop over for travelers crossing into Laos.
That evening our group spent a quite few hours just having a few drinks on the balcony looking over the river into another country, not quite sure what to expect. Steve disappeared upstairs to watch the English Premiership football games that were being televised.
Next day we crossed into Laos. The guesthouse had arranged transport to the Thai immigration post. A few people, Mark being one, had overstayed their visa so had to pay a fine. Then it was a 2-3 minute boat ride across the Mekong to the Laos side. Here there were more formalities with the Laos immigration officials. Then another short tuk-tuk ride to get to the boat pier where we had to catch the slow boat down the Mekong River for two days.
Again it is amazing how crossing the imaginary line that is an international border causes quite noticeable changes. Laos is a very underdeveloped and poor country. Life is much more rural and it shows. The cars are older and buildings are a bit run down. Not that this is a bad thing, in fact it adds to the charm of the place. A big change is that now the traffic has to drive on the right hand side of the road. Laos used to one of the French colonies in Indochina and the French influence can be seen everywhere from the wide boulevards, some French signs and best of all, lovely fresh and crispy baguettes for sale along the side of the road.
Even the Laos language is only subtly different from Thai. The Thai words for hello and thank you are “Sawat dii” and “Khawp khun”. In Lao these are changed slightly to “Sabaai dii” and “Khawp jai”.
The Lao currency is the Kip. Like all South East Asian currencies it has suffered from economic meltdown. Subsequently Laos’ second (some would say the first) currency is the US$. The largest note that is in circulation is 5000Kip and that is not even worth one dollar. This means that when cashing a $100 traveler’s check you are presented with a hand full of wads of money. I even saw one Lao carrying his money is a plastic bag. Wallets are not very practical in Laos.
The mighty Mekong River has its source high up in Tibet. It flows through China before it becomes the border between Laos and Myanmar (Burma). It then forms the border between Thailand and Laos at various places as well as also cutting into the Laos interior. Just before leaving Laos into Cambodia it is 14km wide and during the dry months when the water is low this area is known as 4000 Islands. The Mekong then flows through Cambodia down through the capital, Phnom Penh and then on into Vietnam where it forms the Mekong delta with its lush green rice paddies before emptying out into the South China Sea.
The Mekong River will pop up again later on in my travels but this time we caught a slow boat down the river. The boat itself was a large, barge type boat with hard bus-like seats. Because of all the fuss at the two immigration points it took quite a while for all the passengers to get aboard. Our group luckily commandeered an area at the front, which allowed us to spread out and be social with each other.
We eventually got underway and again were able to compare the underdeveloped Laos side of the river with the more cultivated fields on the Thai side. After a while we cut into Laos itself and the surrounding countryside became completely untouched. The hills and mountains where thick with tropical forest. Every now and again we would happen upon a fishing village with bamboo and grass huts built on stilts along the riverbanks just in the tree line for shade. The villages would be out on their precariously thin dugout boats fishing by throwing nets. The one blot on this idyllic landscape was that every so often huge tracks of mountainside would be cleared of all trees and vegetation. In some spots the ash was still smoldering and smoking. It’s unfortunate to see these slash and burn methods used by the rural villages.
By late afternoon our boat pulled up alongside a larger village called Pakbeng. This was the overnight stop for the boat and all the travelers rushed off to find beds in guesthouses for the night. Again our group was fortunate to find a very friendly guesthouse to accommodate all of us. We spent a very relaxing evening chatting, eating and drinking. That is until a huge tropical storm blew in and we all scurried off to bed.
The next morning was bright and clear with no sign of the previous night’s rain. Our friendly guesthouse proprietor made fresh baguettes for everyone to eat on the boat for lunch. By 10am we were all back on the boat again and on our way. The Mekong River runs very lazily except in places where rocks constrict the water and it become quite fast flowing, almost rapids. This was no problem for the large engine in the boat and the skill of the boat driver. Today we had quite a few stops, dropping off and picking up local Lao’s before eventually reaching our final destination of Luang Prabang by mid-afternoon.
Luang Prabang is a lovely sleepy town with many historic Buddhist temples and Old French mansions in a beautiful mountain setting. UNESCO has recently added it to its list of world heritage sites. We stayed here for three nights and two days. It was very relaxing.
On one day the group hired a jumbo (large tuk-tuk) to drive us out to the stunning Kuang Si waterfall. The waterfall tumbles down a small mountain over various limestone formations into a series of cool turquoise green pools at the base. We had to walk to the falls through the tropical forest that even had an orphaned tiger being kept in a large enclosure. Then at the main falls we clambered up the mountainside getting totally muddy and wet until we found the “secret” pool about two thirds of the way up. Except this pool wasn’t so secret, when we found it there was about 30-40 foreigners jumping off the rocks and swimming. Still, it was fun and the setting was just perfect.
The other day I spent exploring the temples, which ended with climbing the 300+ steps of the Phu Si hill that dominates the town of Luang Prabang. The top of the hill affords great views of the town and there is the That Chomsi stupa where I sat and watched a splendid sunset. Life was good and traveling doesn’t get much better than this.
But by May it was time to move on again. We had decided to travel further north into Laos to a village everyone was raving about. Steve and Garath would not be coming with us as they were heading to the capital, Vientiane, to arrange their Vietnam visas. They had been great travelling companions for three weeks and it was sad saying goodbye. Steve, being a mad Manchester United fan even left me his copy of Alex Ferguson’s autobiography to read. I think that’s because I was forever teasing him about football/rugby and the fact that his team were losing out to their arch rivals Arsenal this year. Thanks for the book, Steve.
It turned out that all eight people staying at our guesthouse where heading in the same direction. So one of the girls, Jo, collected everyone’s bus money and went off to buy the tickets. At eleven o’clock it was time for us all to catch a jumbo to the bus station. When we arrived the bus to Nong Khiaw was packed full of both travelers and their packs and Lao locals with all sorts of sacks, boxes, etc. We were eight plus there were another five travelers needing to get on this bus (actually in Laos the buses are just larger trucks with two bench seats running along it’s length at the back, not very comfortable). Needless to say we got straight on the phone with the travel agent that sold us our tickets. All credit to him, he rode out to the bus station and on seeing the situation for himself, promptly refunded our money.
Now we were going nowhere but there where 13 of us looking for transport to Nong Khiaw. This gave us quite a lot of bargaining power and there was one real bus parked in the bus station. We found it’s driver and secured a deal for him to drive us for 22,000 kip (what we originally paid for our first bus tickets).
We drove for five hours further north, deep into the northern province of Laos. Our bus driver insisted on making some extra money on the side by picking up additional Lao locals. Their luck was in as it was a blistering hot day and ours was an unscheduled bus.
Once at Nong Khiaw we made our way down to the boat landing alongside the Nam Ou River. We had to pay 9000 kip for the hour boat ride upriver. Now the Nam Ou River is not a big river and the boats ferrying passengers reflect this by being rather small with each passenger sitting on alternate sides of the boat with legs across to keep the boat balanced. At one stage we all had to get out of the boat so that the driver could negotiate the rapids with a lighter load. Unfortunately at this point our boat decided to break down with battery and engine trouble. The subsequent 2-hour delay made sure it was dusk by the time we reached our final destination, the secluded village of Muang Ngoi.
Muang Ngoi is a quiet fishing village, total cut off as the only way to get to the village is by boat. No roads meant no cars, tracks or motorbikes. That was until the traveler network found the place. Now it is still isolated but backpackers have overrun the village. It’s not all that bad, life still goes on for the villagers, with them going about their business of fishing, farming and building. Alongside these traditional pursuits the villagers are also running guesthouses and restaurants. There is also the constant playing of children in the streets or swimming in the river.
I spent three nights here just relaxing, reading and swimming. My third day here was May 4th, my birthday. It was one of those days when you get up and do nothing. I was sunning myself for most of the day on the guesthouse balcony, which overlooked the river and a fantastic view of the surrounding countryside. By 3pm Mark and I felt we should at least do something and wandered down to the river for a swim. On returning to the guesthouse I settled back into my book with a cold BeerLao (Laos local brew).
Just as I was thinking I had made it through the day with minimum fuss, Aaron and Shaz appeared with two bottles of Lion Laos whiskey. An English couple, Ed and Jo produced a set of speakers. Before I knew it music was blaring, drink was flowing. News of the birthday party spread like wildfire and in no time a couple of dozen other travelers arrived to join in. All I can say is I don’t remember crashing out on my bed that night. I must of got out my camera because judging by the photos which I have had developed I look like I was having a great time.
Seriously, I had a great time on my birthday. I must thank Aaron, Shaz and Mark for being with me that day and for making it a memorable occasion. Also thanks to Ed and Jo for allowing us to play my CD Walkman on their speakers. Happy 42nd birthday, Phil.
By Sunday it was time to face some hard truths. Traveling in Laos is a slow process and uncomfortable. This meant that the plan of now heading as far south in Laos until our 15-day visas ran out was pretty unrealistic. From the village of Muang Ngoi to the border would take three days alone. In any case I had to be back in Bangkok in five days. So I had to say my goodbyes to Shaz, Aaron and Mark and make my way back to Luang Prabang. Shaz and Aaron should be traveling the same route back to Bangkok but about 2-3 days behind me. Hopefully we can meet up again.
Back in Luang Prabang this hardened traveler wimped out big time. I had first hand experience of the Laos buses and their reliability. I was also informed that the bus ride to Vientiane was a nightmare ride and could take 12 hours. So forked out $58 and caught a plane.
Vientiane is probably the quietest capital city on earth. It is more like a big town. Here the French influence can really be seen with wide, tree-lined boulevards and French pavement cafes. I didn’t do much here, to tell the truth there isn’t that much to do. I explored the main streets trying to get a feel for the place. One tourist thing I did do was catch a tuk-tuk to Vientiane’s most important national site, the great sacred golden stupa, Pha That Luang. It’s the monument which features in all travel brochures on Laos. The stupa is big and golden but with not much else, it took all of five minutes to explore.
On Wednesday, May 8 I made my way to the Thai/Laos Friendship Bridge. This bridge spans the Mekong River between Nong Khai in Thailand and Vientiane and is the main land crossing between the two countries. The immigration at the bridge is a lot slicker than the backwater ferry crossing we took in the north of the country. You don’t actually walk across the bridge, a 2500 kip shuttle bus takes passengers across. There is even a convoluted X-shaped cross road, with a traffic light through the middle. This ensures that traffic changes from driving on the right-hand side of the road back to the left side.
So I am back in Thailand again and back to that wonderful Thai cooking that I had missed so much in Laos. An overnight train will take me back into Bangkok for early morning on Friday, May 10.
