Into Laos
Friday, November 24th, 2006Friday 24th November 2006
On our last day in Chiang Mai we did stuff like buy postcards, go on the internet and of course, went to a yoga class. It was the best one i’ve ever been to. I felt so good afterwards. As we were feeling so good we rewarded ourselves by going to a restuarant called Huen Phen which serves some of the best northern thai food in Chiang Mai, and its dirt cheap. Who could resist!!
The next day 21/11, our adventure into Laos began and boy was it a long hard slog. We were supposed to be picked up from our guesthouse at 10am but hey we are on Thai time (not Fiji time this time around) and at quarter to 1 a little man popped his head around the corner and shouted Laos. Horrah! Janine and I had front seats, great for the view but a bit scary when the driver is doing stupid miles an hour whilst overtaking, going round bends, opening packets of peanuts, on his mobile phone and we didnt have any seatbelts to wear. Janine didnt worry – she fell asleep. I desperately needed the toilet. After what was literally 3/4 hours we stopped for a break at a nut place – very weird. We were driven from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong which is near the Laos border. The journey to Chiang Khong was hot and sweaty. We stayed in Chiang Khong that night. The next day 22/11 it was up early and away to catch a ferry. We were taken with all our luggage on the back of a ute to the ferry port and then we had to take our passports to passport control. At this point i had already got my visa into Laos stamped in my passport but the guy wants us to pay 5 baht for the priviledge of seeing this. Great! Once we had reached the other side at Huay Xai we had to fill out arrival and departure cards for Laos and show our passports which they stamp. It is then up a hill to a tuk tuk which takes you to the slow boat. Now when Ie say slow boat i mean slow!! As in it leaves at least an hour late to start with. Then it makes frequent stops where you are unable to get off but all sorts of villagers want to sell you things from bananas to live frogs. At one point a man boarded the boat with a monkey on his shoulder. There were not enough seats for the amount of people so chairs are set up in the aisles and people are lying on top of everyones luggage. The slow boat left at 12pm and arrived at Pak Beng at 6pm. On arrival you have to carry your rucksack and all luggage out of the boat, accross some fat logs, then walk a plank accoss the river and then as if that is not enough, walk up a steep sand bank. Talk about exhausted.
The next morning it is back on the slow boat. Janine and I thought we would be clever and get to the boat early so we could get better seats. The seats are wooden and sooo painful on the bottom after about 2 minutes of sitting. However, everyone else had the same idea and to our dismay they had changed the boat to a smaller one. Luckily we got a 2 seater again and just thanked our lucky stars for that. From Pak Beng to Luang Prabang, 8am we were on the boat, 10am the slow boat left, and at 6pm we arrived in Luang Prabang. We spent one night in Luang Prabang. We went to the night market there where they sell local handicraft things. The ladies that sell the clothes and goods actually make the delights themselves. So beautiful. We also got up early this morning and watched the monks at 6am leave their temples, wats, and walk about the town collecting offerings from the villagers. Very interesting and fascinating to watch.
At 8.30am we were on a local bus from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. We arrived here at about 3.15pm. We made one stop on the way. The bus had no air con or fans and was filled with locals and a baby crying. The music playing got quite monotomos but it was a great experience and the scenery is breathtaking. You can see locals ploughing their fields by hand and the hills are unbelievable.
georgiebees