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Published: November 23rd 2010
After chilling out in Luang Prabang we boarded a slow boat for two days, stopping off in Pak Beng for the night. The views from the boat were mind blowing; jungle, limestone karsts, tiny villages and people using the river for food, transport and washing. We’d recommend taking the slow boat to anyone looking to do that journey. We’d also recommend turning up early to bag the ‘soft seats’ which are actually car seats. The wooden bench option didn’t look too comfy, especially after 8 hrs.
While we said a fond farewell to Laos, with a promise to return one day, we crossed the (river) border in to Thailand. It was an OK crossing, a bit of a scramble for the arrival cards but otherwise good. We had a leisurely breakfast and set off in a tuk tuk to the bus station. After joining the queue, behind a couple and their bicycles, we were told that they had just bought the last two tickets! This meant a good 7 hour wait in a town with little to do, especially with our big old bags. Doom and gloom (well not really, but we were thinking that maybe we should’ve changed the
breakfast/ticket buying order). Luckily for us the couple were then told that there was no room for their bikes and so we got their tickets instead. I’m sure they didn’t hear our ‘whooping’ and ‘Oh Yeahs’. Discretion is our middle name.
This 7 hr bus journey took us to Chiang Mai. It wasn’t exactly the worse journey we’ve had, but it was still a test of endurance and patience. The seats were arranged in a two seat/isle/three seat fashion rather than the usual two seat/isle/two seat set up. Combine this with a broken air con system and a rather hot sun.. it was more of a mobile sauna than a bus, but we made it in one piece. We found a lovely place to stay where to owners were amazing. We felt so looked after, like they were our temporary Thai parents.
Luckily our trip to Chiang Mai coincided with their yearly Festival of Light. For the entire time we were there the sky was lit up by a zillion lanterns floating like stars, fireworks exploding left, right and centre and the more hairy home made fire crackers that the kids were throwing in the street. Steve bought
View from a bridge
during our bike ride around Luang Prabang.some thin, bendy grass which had gun powder wrapped around one end. Once lit you had a few seconds to spin it around and shoot it in to the air before the fuse ran out leading to a big crackly whizzy sparkler type effect. Getting the timing right is the key, it took a bit of practice.. one ended up under a tuk tuk, another under a bin bag.
So, we’re now back in Bangkok. Our flight leaves in just under 12 hours where we’ll be heading over to India, first stop Darjeeling. This is a completely new culture to what we’ve experienced before, my stomach is flipping with nerves and excitement at the same time.
We’ve had a brilliant couple of months in SE Asia, if a little different than what we expected. Each country wasn’t just a slight variation of Thailand (where we’ve visited before) but each having it’s own well defined personality. I don’t think we can say that we have a favourite and there would be plenty of reasons to visit each one again. It’s been quite a varied trip from being all foody in Thailand, visiting children in Cambodia, wading through flooded streets
in Vietnam and chilling in Laos.
The one bit of advice we’d offer is don’t get a bus from Hanoi to Laos.
A tuk tuk load of love
S&S
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Joan
non-member comment
Lovely blog Sheryl. I'm looking forward to all your stories from Nepal & India. Keep safe & lots of lovex