Although I'm 'travelling', a lot of the time getting from A - B seems like a chore, something that has to be done rather than an experience to enjoy. There have been lots of journeys when this wasn't the case; riding on the roof of the bus in Nepal, going from jungle to desert on a train in India, or the ferry to Koh Tao. But, however spoilt it sounds, a 17 hour bus journey can get boring even when it's through an exotic new county.
My journey from Thailand to Luang Prabang in Laos was one of the journeys that I definitely appreciated in itself, not just as a means to an end. It took four days, two buses, three boats, two rickshaws and one ride in the back of a truck.
Day 1.From Chiang Mai I catch a 'tourist' bus to Chiang Rai, a town in the very North of Thailand and close to the Laos boarder. It takes five hours so I stay the night in what was probably the best hostel I have stayed in so far. A cold drink on arrival, wifi, pillows, sheets, towels, aircon, power showers and a common room with Sky TV. All for 200Bhat (£4) night. And breakfast is included.
Chiang Rai is a small town and after exploring the night bazaar, which sells mostly tshirts and meat on sticks, I indulge in some television and a snickers bar, feeling very un-traveller-y.
Day 2.After a BIG breakfast of as much toast and as many bananas as I can eat I schlep my bag to the local bus station and board the public bus the boarder town of Chiang Khong (Chiang means 'city' in Thai). The journey takes three hours and costs only 65bhat (£1.50). Travel websites had warned me that this trip was tough - hot and uncomfortable but authentic. So I was expecting three people to a seat, chickens on laps, sweltering heat and loud music - I was expecting India. However there were only six other people on the bus, the huge windows meant there was no need or air conditioning anyway and I couldn't see any animals on the vehicle - although I'm sure they were there. Through my open window I saw farms and villages and lots of rice fields. Rural Thailand seems very far away from Bangkok and Koh Tao.
The moment I step off the bus in Chiang Khong I am asked by a rickshaw driver 'Laos?' and before I can answer my bag is thrown into the back of the 'rickshaw', which is more like a large lawnmower with seats. I have just enough time to climb in the back before he starts driving off. Climbing onto stranger's law mower, with out knowing where they're going isn't actually as unsafe as it sounds. In most places I have been, the locals seem to know where a traveller wants to go (in this instance, every white person in Chiang Khong wants to go to the pier). In India, I could turn up at a bus stop and just wait until someone said 'Golden Temple? this bus' and I would get on, and stay on until someone said 'quick, your stop!'. I was never once missed my stop, even when I didn't know where my stop was, and not once did I end up where I didn't want to be.
I get my Thai visa stamped at passport control, a hut from which I can see Laos on the other side of the muddy Mekong river. From an even smaller hut on the boat ramp I buy my 40b ticket (which seems expensive as my three hour bus was only 65b) and walk five steps to the long tailed boat, where my ticket is taken of me by the same man who sold it to me and who is also the boat driver. After much pushing and shoving to get the end of boat off the ramp and into the water, the 11 other people, a mixture of Westerners and Asians, and I are whisked across the river and in two minutes were in Laos.
On the other side I pay $30 and get my Laos visa, a process which involves filling out two almost identical forms and takes only 10 minutes. The boarder town of Huay Xai (don't ask me how it's pronounced) has one street and twenty guest houses - according to the owner of mine no one stays more than one night. So far Laos is not so different from Thailand. Huay Xai and Chiang Khong are practically one twon with a river running through the middle, although I notice one difference on the menu of the restaurant in which I, and everyone other traveller in town, have dinner.
My journey from Thailand to Luang Prabang in Laos was one of the journeys that I definitely appreciated in itself, not just as a means to an end. It took four days, two buses, three boats, two rickshaws and one ride in the back of a truck.
Day 1.From Chiang Mai I catch a 'tourist' bus to Chiang Rai, a town in the very North of Thailand and close to the Laos boarder. It takes five hours so I stay the night in what was probably the best hostel I have stayed in so far. A cold drink on arrival, wifi, pillows, sheets, towels, aircon, power showers and a common room with Sky TV. All for 200Bhat (£4) night. And breakfast is included.
Chiang Rai is a small town and after exploring the night bazaar, which sells mostly tshirts and meat on sticks, I indulge in some television and a snickers bar, feeling very un-traveller-y.
Day 2.After a BIG breakfast of as much toast and as many bananas as I can eat I schlep my bag to the local bus station and board the public bus the boarder town of Chiang Khong (Chiang means 'city' in Thai). The journey takes three hours and costs only 65bhat (£1.50). Travel websites had warned me that this trip was tough - hot and uncomfortable but authentic. So I was expecting three people to a seat, chickens on laps, sweltering heat and loud music - I was expecting India. However there were only six other people on the bus, the huge windows meant there was no need or air conditioning anyway and I couldn't see any animals on the vehicle - although I'm sure they were there. Through my open window I saw farms and villages and lots of rice fields. Rural Thailand seems very far away from Bangkok and Koh Tao.
The moment I step off the bus in Chiang Khong I am asked by a rickshaw driver 'Laos?' and before I can answer my bag is thrown into the back of the 'rickshaw', which is more like a large lawnmower with seats. I have just enough time to climb in the back before he starts driving off. Climbing onto stranger's law mower, with out knowing where they're going isn't actually as unsafe as it sounds. In most places I have been, the locals seem to know where a traveller wants to go (in this instance, every white person in Chiang Khong wants to go to the pier). In India, I could turn up at a bus stop and just wait until someone said 'Golden Temple? this bus' and I would get on, and stay on until someone said 'quick, your stop!'. I was never once missed my stop, even when I didn't know where my stop was, and not once did I end up where I didn't want to be.
I get my Thai visa stamped at passport control, a hut from which I can see Laos on the other side of the muddy Mekong river. From an even smaller hut on the boat ramp I buy my 40b ticket (which seems expensive as my three hour bus was only 65b) and walk five steps to the long tailed boat, where my ticket is taken of me by the same man who sold it to me and who is also the boat driver. After much pushing and shoving to get the end of boat off the ramp and into the water, the 11 other people, a mixture of Westerners and Asians, and I are whisked across the river and in two minutes were in Laos.
Above: Chiang Khong Pier (Thailand)
Above : Arriving in Huay Xai (Laos)
Above: The difference between Laos and Thailand.
NB Pad Laos tastes the same as pad Thai - its all fried noodles
Above: Trucks being transported up the river
Above: Sunset over the Mekong
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