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Published: February 28th 2007
FRANCAIS PLUS BAS -
After a week in Chiang Mai and one month in Thailand it's now time to move on. A travelling companion from Gaspesie in Quebec has joined me here. The company is welcome after travelling solo for a while. It will take some adjusting but I don't anticipate any problems. I can adjust to most situations I think and after travelling in India everything else is EASY.
So we take a mini-bus for a 5 hour drive to Chiang Khong, the last town in Thailand on the border. We sleep in a grotty room without hot water and crappy meals. That's what happens when you travel cheap.
The next day, we take a taxi boat across the Mekong river to the Laos side after 4 passport checks. But crossing to another country is painless, beside the Lao stamp, no soldiers, no immigration and no forms to fill in. It's like we never changed countries.
Now we board the SLOW Boat. And slow it is. But peaceful. This is a wooden boat with a large deck where people find a spot to sit on the ground or on the few wooden very uncomfortable seats. The boat is full. Our backpacks and luggage are thrown one on top of the other and we look for a "comfortable" spot. Under the roof so we don't get sunburn. Sitting on the ground trying to find a spot to stretch our legs. We have six long hours to get to our first destination: Pak Beng.
All we have now is time: time to look at the beautiful scenery. The river snaking and winding with beautiful lush forest on each side. here and there a small village of bamboo huts, a few kids waving hello as we pass by. They make gardens in the sand, they look like steps and everytihng is green. I wonder how veggies can grow, directly in the sand but they are doing it.
We have time to talk to our fellow travellers. People of all ages, young and old from all over the world. We exchange information on places we have visited. What is worth a look and a detour what is a rip off for the money conscious travellers.
We have time to think. Think of my life, it's purpose, it's meaning. Think of my future.What I want to do with the days, months and years ahead. Time to live. Time to appreciate the marvelous opportunities that I have to travel. To meet people, to discover freedom, life and love. Love of life, love of discovery, love of exchanging with people of all walks of life. How lucky to have time on my hands. A bit of reading, a little snooze, talking with others and just chugging along the Mekong to our next destination. This first leg of the journey lasts about 6 hours. We arrive after sunset but I had already made reservations in one of the 5 guesthouses of Pak Beng, hoping that it is better than the previous accomodation. It is acceptable. A clean bed with a net to guard against mosquitoes. We have dinner and nothing else to do but sleep after that. The power is cut off from 10 pm to 8 am.
The next morning we board another slow boat for the 9 hour ride to Luang Prabang. This is a world heritage town. Same same but different. This is a saying in Asia, in India, Thailand and Laos. When you ask what the difference is between 2 options the answer will be 90% of the time: same same but different. And this is what I cn say for this last leg of the boat ride.
We arrive and the sun is still up. It's the free for all to get our bags. Then, with one heavy backpack on my back (18 kg), the lighter one on my front, I have to negotiate a small plank from the boat to shore. Wow, not easy. I just hope I dont find my butt in the water... no I don't!
This time we need to look for a guesthouse. We team up with 2 guys from Holland to share a songtao (pickup trucks with side benches that serve as common taxis) and get to a guest house. The first 2 are full. The third choice has vacancy so we do not hesitate to take it.
After freshening up a bit we all go to the restaurant. We are about 8 or 9 and we call ourselves the BOAT PEOPLE since we were all on the same boat and made friends.
Food is good. Lots of veggies, not as spicy as Thai food and we sit by the mighty Mekong river, our friend for the last few days. The town has a curfew. In fact I will learn that the whole country has a curfew. 11 pm! We are really rested from 2 days of sitting and thinking on the boat and were hoping to live it up but not possible so off we go to bed again! Early.
Luang Prabang is a quaint beautiful little town. You can discover it in 1 or 2 days maximum. We find a bar that opens at 11pm, after everythning closes but its so far away we change our minds and good back to the hotel early again. Laos once belonged to France and we can see it's influence. Baguettes and coffees are delicious. Just like in France and at home. There are nice little cafes and restaurants and nice french colonial buildings. People in Lao are always smiling, not stressed and nice to tourists. We rented bicycles and explored the whole town in half a day. We went beyond as well and thats were we see real rural life. No more paved roads but dirt and dust and big holes, no more buildings but huts without power and water. This is where the lao people live, on the outskirts of the town which is almost exclusively reserved for tourists. The guesthouse owners sleep in the reception and wait for their last tourist to come in around 11 pm to go to sleep. We spend more days than we want here but flights either to Vientiane (the capital of Laos) or Vietnam are booked solid. The choice is going to Vientiane or leaving Laos and going to Vietnam. We both agree Rose-ALine and I to head for Vietnam because this is available but also because we feel the need to move and explore and think there is more activity across the border. So Hanoi it is, our next destination.
FRANCAIS
Apres une semaine a Chiang Mai et un mois en Thailande il est temps d'elargir mes horizons et de voir autre chose. J'ai une compagne de voyage maintenant. Rose-Aline de Gaspesie que j'ai rencontre au tout debut de mon voyage en octobre est venue me rejoindre. Ce sera different de voyager a 2. Il faudra faire des compromis mais il y a des avantages et je n'anticipe aucune difficulte. Je suis assez souple et accomodante et Rose-Aline semble l'etre aussi.
Nous prenons un mini-bus pour nous rendre a la frontiere entre la Thailande et le Laos a chiang Khong. Le trajet dure environ 5 heures. La chambre qui faisait partie du package est minable. Pas d'eau chaude mais bon c'est la vie et c'est pour une seule nuit.
Le lendemain apres les formalites d'usage pour traverser la frontiere (4 controles de nos passeports mais aucun garde, aucun policier et aucun signe que nous changeons de pays) nous prenons un petit bateau pour traverser le Mekong. Ensuite, nous embarquons sur notre SLOW BOAT, il est lent en effet car notre periple durera environ 6 heures aujourd'hui et 9 heures le lendemain. Notre bateau est en bois, il y a quelques bancs de bois mais la plupart des gens sont eparpilles ou ils peuvent. Les bagages empiles pele-mele en avant. On se trouve une place par terre, ca semble plus confortable que les bancs d'eglise! et la, on laisse le temps passer. On regarde le temps passer. On est a l'abri du soleil. Le vent caresse mon visage, on est colle aux autres car nous sommes nombreux. Compagnons de voyage et de fortune de tous ages et de toutes nationalites. On a tout le temps de se lier d'amitie, de connaitre les histoires et les suggestions de voyage de chacun. De beaux echanges tout en voguant sur le fameux Mekong. L'eau n'est pas invitante: brun caca mais le paysage est magnifique. Les rives bordees de sable, en pente regorgent de petits jardins. Je ne comprends pas comment jils font pousser tant de legumes sur du sable mais j'en suis temoin. Les montagnes sont vertes et luxuriantes et parsemees de petits villages de cases en bambou, surelevees. Les enfants nous saluent, la vie passe lentement. Le Meknog est sinueux, on apercoit des pirogues de pecheurs. Parfois des formations rocheuses s'elevent au centre du fleuve et mon imagination voit tantot un elephant, un dragon ou un visage. C'est tres amusant. On n'a que du temps ici. Le temps d'apprecier la chance que j'ai de decouvrir le monde. Le temps d'apprecier la liberte et de la vivre, de penser a ma vie, la vie passee, et celle a venir. Le temps de penser a l'amour, l'amour de la vie, du voyage, des gens que j'ai laisse derriere et de ceux que je rencontre au fil des jours. Aimer la vie et tout ce qui se presente, quel beau cadeau du ciel. J'en suis reconnaissante.
Quelle chance d'avoir sur les mains tout le temps du monde. POur lire un peu, faire une petite sieste, jaser avec les copains sur le bateau. Des gens de mon age mais beaucoup, beaucoup de jeunes aussi. Cela me rappelle mon tout premier voyage a 20 ans. Que la jeunesse est belle quand on prend le temps de la cotoyer, de discuter avec les jeunes et de partager des moments communs.
On arrive a Pak Beng apres 6 heures. Il fait noir et je suis contente d'avoir deja reserve une chambre. Elle est mieux que la premiere heureusement mais tout ferme a 10 h environ. On n'a rien d'autre a faire que de dormir car l'electricite est coupee de 10 pm a 8am.
Le lendemain nous reprenons un autre bateau pour nous rendre a Luang Prabang. Un village classe patrimoine mondial par L"UNESCO. Joli comme tout mais petit petit. Nous nous joignons a 2 hollandais pour partager un song tao... genre de pick up avec des bancs qui sert de taxi commun. Il nous faut trouver un endroit ou dormir. Les 2 ou 3 premiers guesthouse sont complets. Le premier qui est libre on le prend. On se rencontre tous pour souper. En fait, nous sommes environ 8 personnes les BOAT PEOPLE car c'est tellement petit qu'on rencontre tous nos oompagnons de voyage ici et la. Impossible de faire la fete tout ferme vers 11h car dans ce pays, il y a un couvre-feu.
C'est mignon comme endroit mais tres tranquille. On visite toute la ville en criant ciseau. On a loue des bicyclettes et en une demi-journee on a tout vu. On est aussi sorti de la ville et c'est la qu'on voit le vrai Laos rural. Des rues pas asphaltees, de gros trous, plein de poussiere. Des case en bambou sans eau ni electricite. Les filles se promenent a velo ou en scooter en tenant d'une main un petit parapluie a froufour pour se proteger du soleil. C'est assez joli. On reste un peu plus longtemps que necessaire car les vols pour Vientiane (la capitale) et pour le Vietnam sont pleins et peu frequents. On opte pour le Vietnam car on a la bougeotte et c'est la premiere disponibilite. En attendant, on apprecie l'influence francaise, le Laos etant une ancienne colonie de France en savourant d'excellente baguette et de delicieux cafes. Les premiers bons cafes depuis mon depart du QUebec. Les gens sont gentils, pacifiques et souriants. Une semaine au Laos c'est peu mais assez pour le moment. A nous le Vietnam!
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Pit la terreur
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The forgotten war...
While reading your essay I was reminded of the recent Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, the Delta region saw fighting between NLF guerrillas and units of the United States Navy operating in small river boats. All of this was happening on the Mekog....I was a bit surprised that nobody mentionned it, but then again, maybe its better that way, who knows?