This is the first time I've left Thailand since I arrived, and it is strange. Every time I find myself wanting to speak, I stop myself. I can hardly find the right words to say now that I can't speak English, Chinese, or Thai. The city so far is as I expected and more. I'll give you the rundown later, but quickly some things I found out...
- There is a government curfew here in town - midnight.
- This is a UNESCO World Heritage city with 32 temples to see.
- Many Chinese folks come down to Laos, Luang Prabang, to visit and tour because it is cheap and close by.
- Jumbos are tuk-tuks + sorng-teaw combined.
Recap:
Getting to Laos was an interesting process, and one I don't want to try again. Malewaan, the super friendly owner of the guest house we stayed at in Chiang Khong, drove us to the dock where we had to stand in line to get stamped out of Thailand. Then we loaded ourselves and our bags onto a long-tail boat for the short ride to the other side. Literally 5 minutes at best. Some have swam across after getting approval, but only during low tide. That morning we didn't see anyone unfortunately... But we made it to Laos! Along with about 100 other farang or falang as they like to say it here. I seriously wonder where all these people came from?!? They definitely were not in Chiang Khong the last couple days when we were there....
Anyway we got to the other border town called Huay Xai. We made our way through a mad crowd of people all waiting to get their visa on arrival. I have never seen such a disorganized system despite how long this has been in operation. There was no line or any direction whatsoever though I guess we should of been used to this...we have been living in Thailand for about half a year. I sent Jenny to shove our passports through the window since we already had our papers in order and just needed to wait as I watched the crazies. I attempted but then being my height, didn't get so far. We waited for the return of our passports with our Laos visa, and it took forever. Everyone was crowding the tiny office waiting for names or pictures of their passports to be shown. Somehow they couldn't pronounce my name, and then attempted my middle name which came out Cina Cina. Yea...I didn't respond to that til they called Jenny and then she told me to get up. Yah! We got our passports with the visa, and headed up the hill to catch a tuk-tuk to collect our ticket for the slow boat. We got on the boat pretty much almost right away, and found the boat was filled with seats that you would find in a mini-van. The mini-vans we took all around Thailand. Interesting choice for the boat.... Anyway, we grabbed seats and watched the huge crowd of people we had seen at the immigration office all getting on the boat. Jenny and I turned and just about freaked for a moment. There was no way all those people would fit. Plus their luggage?? Yea.......Thoughts of where will everyone sit? Is this boat going to hold everyone safely? Will we float? Damnit this is going to be a hell ride of 5.5 hrs. Why???
Eventually we left, and since I'm safely in Laos, the boat didn't sink. It was a beautiful albeit cramped ride. We stopped overnight at a small town called Pak Beng, but proceeded to wake at the crack of dawn to get better seats this time around since the second day of the trip was even longer. For the second half, those seats were great until we got too comfortable and hit a patch of rapids. A lovely wave of Mekong hit us, and soaked us through. A good "dip" as it was getting to hot. Eh...
Although the boat ride and the process was a bit chaotic, the chance to float down the Mekong and take in the gorgeous scenery made it all worth it. The volcanic rocks jutting from the river, white sand beaches all around, and seeing local people pulling fish, and swimming in the river - jumping and waving just made me smile.
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| boat across the Mekong |
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| boat down the Mekong |
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