On to Laos
January 2001
After getting my passport back stamped with a two week visa for Laos, I took a bus north to the Thai border town of Chiang Khong. I was just across the Mekong river from Hauy-Xai, Laos (way-zai). Once in Laos I had planned a two day slow-boat trip to Luang Prabang, the old capitol of The Lan Xang (million elephants) Kingdom, the monarchy that held power until 1975 when the Pathet Lao took over. I would go south from there to Vientiane and cross the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai, Thailand (where most people usually enter Laos by land).
Before the minibus reached the Namkhong Guesthouse in Chiang Khong, I felt I should have come sooner. The lights (and music) from across the river were Laos, and the excitement of what was to come had returned. But the reports of my boat options did not beckon at all. The slow boat to Laung Prabang takes 6-8 hours for each half of the trip with an overnight stop in Pekbang. I heard that the toilet is a hole in the boat, and you ride sitting in the keel with no view and great discomfort. Just the opposite of what I wanted.
The fast boat takes 3 hours for each leg and bounces through the water at a sickening pace. I heard people die in crashes occasionally so motorcycle gear is worn. There was disagreement as to which boat was louder, but earplugs were strongly suggested. Then I heard there is an airport with two flights a day (Lao-Air $40). Sounds like the plan, except for the Lao-Air part…
So with the reality of being ready to cross to Laos (it's close enough to swim), I decided to stay one more day in the Kingdom of Thailand to consider my options. I could check Email one more time and send off a few postcards before stepping into the time machine.
I am happy to (now) have YouTube to show you other traveler's videos
I planned on going to look at the boats the following morning (on the way to the airport) but the first place I asked after crossing into Laos told me of a bus going Northwest to Laung Namtha, a province bordering China and Myanmar. I knew very little about where I was going, but then, that was part of the challenge. They collected some of my new play money, drove me to the bus station, bought my ticket for me (probably for less) and got me to the 8:30 bus. It left about 10:15! The trip, which was only an inch on the map, lasted ten hours!
More photos of Laos
Transportation in Laos seemed uncomfortable with every option. The roads are worse than on the Indian Subcontinent. What they called a bus was a small truck with two bench seats and top, but open sides to assure you will be covered with dust by the end of your journey.
Most everyone else had visas for China and was continuing north. This part of Laos was home to many ethnic minorities. I stayed on a second day, walking around the market and searching out consumables suitable for human consumption. I stopped for another night in Oudumsai while going south. There were some bright moments but it was all fairly bleak. When I got to Luang Prabang, I felt I had returned to the present, and I was so glad. I forget that when you go back in time the food can be disappointing.
In Luang Prabang the air was warmer, the drinks were colder and once again I was overlooking the Mekong River. Two groups of backpackers I arrived with left the next morning for Vang Vieng, but I had to stop here and catch my breath. At 8,000 Kip per $1, everything is cheap and finally there is something to spend it on.
Merchants in the markets exchanged bundles of money
Here and in Vientiane, the new capitol, is a sense of a modern world. Email exists and so does some free enterprise, even foreign owned (in Thailand I always heard about a requirement of 51% Thai ownership). In 1989 the New Economic Mechanism (NEM) was introduced. Laos, like most other communist countries, seems to finally realize the effects and stimulus of commerce. Years ago I remember reading on a Lao Government website, their commitment (for factory size projects) not to nationalize the industry and to allow a fair profit. It could happen!
I've been thinking a lot about this place and its unique form of Communism where most people are Buddhists but other beliefs are practiced and commerce seems to be encouraged. A poster in the post office celebrated human rights. The young widow who owns my guesthouse confides in me her finances. She has a payment due on a government loan she got to modernize her place. "I want to sell some land I own a few kilometers from here..."
Bank payments, land ownership? It has me thinking.
After I spent 3 or 4 days thinking, eating and looking around, I took another truck to Vang Vieng, this place I had heard so much about. It splits up the trip to Vientiane (and the Thai border), so I feel I would have discovered it anyway. Large tube rafts can be rented with a tuk ride a few kilometers upstream where you spend the day floating back to where you started. On the water with a bunch of white farangs I felt like I could be back in the Thai islands (a strange feeling to have in a land locked country).
The last days of my two week Lao visa were spent in the Capital of Vientiane. Since I had traveled south through Laos to return to Thailand, I felt like I was in southern Laos (it seems logical) but if you look at the map you will see half the country goes around to the east and then much further south to Cambodia.
I'm very glad I went to Laos. I hope to return but I must admit that crossing the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai, Thailand felt like coming home. Instantly the food was great. Laos did have better baguettes and beer than Thailand, and maybe one other thing, but the Kingdom is still King. When visiting this part of the world one must treat oneself to a the luxury of a traditional massage (just the thing after a few days of hiking). At these prices I got one more often than once a week.
I returned home to the USA in early February 2001 and got to work on this final chapter. It was freezing and I wonder why I came back. I caught my first cold in ten years.
Some of you really should come along one of these times… and you know who you are!
February 2002 I returned to Asia on my fourth trip.
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