Laos 2 day down the Mekong to Luang Prabang

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We had high expectations of Laos. It is one of those places everyone seems to love but no-one can really say what the love about it. It doesn’t seem to have any particular major landmarks, but apparently is very un-spoilt, friendly etc so it should be good. In addition the most popular ways to cross into Laos seems to be to enjoy a two day long boat ride down the Mekong river from Hat Yai to Luang Prabang (a world heritage sight and supposedly the prettiest city in SE Asia). Sounds good!

So we got picked up by our mini bus this morning at 8.00am from Pai with the understanding we would head straight to the Thai/Laos border at Chiang Kong. When we arrived back in Chiang Mai we were a little surprised and realised we had been well and truly ripped off. The bus isn’t direct and we paid over the odds when we could have booked the two buses separately. Lesson learned always asked exactly what your getting for your money!

However it actually worked out well as we hooked up with 3 other couples on the bus all of which are a good laugh and the journey from Chiang Mai to Chiang Kong went relatively painlessly.

One of the couples on our bus had booked a package deal to include accommodation in Chiang Kong, but the rest if us had just paid for the bus ride, but in true thai fashion we all got dumped off at a ‘guesthouse’ - (I use that term very loosely) conveniently owned by the driver and his wife who had 3 rooms available. Having read that this is a commonly used scam we told them we already had a reservation and so reluctantly leaving Laney and Doug the rest of us headed back into the village centre to find somewhere a bit nicer. Now minus the two cockroaches in the bathroom the place we didn’t end up staying in wasn’t TOO bad (it had a nice view of the Mekong River) and the 6 of us went out for dinner, later to be joined by Lainey and Doug who amused us with the experience of the ‘guesthouse’ they had been left at to sleep in a cell with filthy bedding and eat an all inclusive meal of cold rice and unidentified meat…tasty.

Feb 18th

Got up this morning and set off to the pier to start our 2 day journey down the Mekong River in a long boat to Laos. We got through immigration and with relative ease we got stamped out of Thailand got in a boat and got ferried across the river to the Laos side.

The Laos side of the river had a restaurant and the immigration/passport control booth where we were required to buy our visa on arrival. This seemingly easy job however was possibly the most chaotic experience we have encountered so far! The passport control area is tiny and with boat loads of people turning up every 5mins or so it quickly turned into a rugby scrum….what happened to queuing people!?? Immigration just took passports of people at random, scurried away with them and then just handed them back through the window to whoever was willing to take them. There seemed to be no system at all! Amazingly however we all managed to get the (correct) passport back with visa and then were ready to go on our way.

Now we have heard of scams in Thailand, but as Laos is supposedly so under touristy so we definitely weren’t expecting it to be worse! Oh how naieve we are. From this point on we have had some absolute corkers…

Tuk Tuk Driver: tuk tuk to pier madam?
Me: Yes please…how much?
Tuk Tuk driver: 20 baht
Me: For 6 people
Tuk Tuk driver: Yes 20 baht for 6 people
Me; Briliant lets go!

Now at this point I probably should have clarified whether he meant 20baht for the whole tuk tuk or 20 baht each. He of course meant 20 baht each. I felt like an idiot. He was very very smug having got a momths salary for a 2 min ride. No wonder he looked surprised when I accepted his offer without bartering…doh!

It then continues…..

LIE Number 1 (by man in café) : As soon as we got through immigration we were told it would be much better to book the 2 day boat ride through the café we had gone to get a coffee in.

Lie Number 2 (by tour operator): We would in fact be much better paying an extra 60,000 kip each and getting a bus directly to Luang Prabang as the slow boat stops at a village called Pak Beng overnight, which has no electricity and ridiculously expensive guesthouses charging at least 60USD a night because people have no other option.

Lie Number 3 (by man in café - this guy fibbed a lot! ) : We had better by all our provisions water etc in the town we were in as the stop over town on the first night inflates all its prices enormously and has no electricity.

Truth Number 1: After politely declining offer to book through café we found by going directly to the pier we saved about a tenner each. The boat itself wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world but the landscape is beautiful and with a group of people it was a good laugh nevertheless.

Truth Number 2: After 6 hours on the long boat we arrived in Pak Beng to find not only electricity and hot water from 6-10pm and again in the morning, but one of the nicest and cheapest guesthouses at 5quid per room! And a nice little village thrown into the bargain.

Truth Number 3: Everything including restaurant food was in as cheap if not cheaper than at the border!

So feeling smug we hadn’t been outwitted this time we had an Indian meal (nothing like trying the local cuisine!) washed down with a couple of beers before heading to bed to prepare ourselves for the 10 hour stretch from Pak Beng to Luang Prabang tomorrow.

After a decent breakfast and a hot shower we headed back to the river bank to get back on the boat to head to Luang Prabang. We were delighted to find that this boat unlike yesterdays one with only hard wooden benches had a few car seats at the back and thanks to Angela and Charlie racing onto the boat and bagsying 8 seats (very German we know!) we managed to all get a comfy seat. We even had life jackets..amazing!

An hour into the journey we were informed by a local (not even sure he worked on the boat) we would have to pay an extra 5000kip to sit on the comfy seats. Luckily I wasn’t sat nearest to him as I assumed he was being honest, but no it was another scam…some guy chancing his arm to weedle yet more cash out of the unsuspecting tourist. Seamus however had none of it and he quickly gave up on his quest!

The views today were just as pretty and although we wouldn't neccessarily want to swim in the Mekong river it is lined with primary rainforest and small bamboo hut villages which makes a postcard picture. Laos is however the poorest country in SE Asia and this was brought home to us when a family with a very very sick baby got on board and had to endure an agonizing 9 hour journey to the nearest hospital in Luang Prabang. Seeing something like that makes you appreciate how lucky we are to have a hospital on almost every corner and free health care when ever we need it. It also gives some realization as to why people try to scam, but sadly it can make you very synical and untrusting. If people were just honest about things perhaps they would make more money in the long run….

We arrived in Luang Prabang at 6pm and assumed we would have no issue getting accommodation as it is a main tourist area. However after an hour of walking through the city we were beginning to give up hope of finding anywhere that wasn’t stupidly expensive or infested with fleas.

Finally we all managed to get an ok guesthouse at a reasonable price and headed out for dinner. Funny how sitting around all day makes you so hungry! Unfortunately my first Lao meal was a little disappointing but you cant have everything! A plate of vegetables - just vegetables, no sauce, wasn’t what I was expecting (it sounded better on the menu) but beggars cant be choosers.

One thing we have all noticed is that people here like to laugh. A lot. Every time any of us ask then a question or get asked a question they look as if (or in fact do) burst into hysterics. Even when Seamus was asked if he wanted a tuk tuk and said ‘no thanks’ he felt like the most hilarious person in the world (and perhaps a little paranoid!) Ordering a drink in bar seemed to prompt a similar response from the waitresses who were almost doubled over…interesting….

Feb 20th
We were woken up at 4am this morning to the sound of a rooster crowing very loudly, followed swiftly by a man hocking up outside our window. Not the nicest sound in the world, especially when you have a phobia of flem and bodily excretions in general. However after spending almost 4 weeks in SE Asia we have begun to realize we can’t get away from it….anywhere….and now it would seem even as we sleep! How these people don’t constantly have a sore throat is beyond us! After managing to finally snooze of again the building work across the road then started at 6am and we quickly realized we would probably have to forget any notions of sleeping in.

We decided to spend the day seeing the city, which although only has really 3 main streets is in fact very pretty, with a lovely laid back atmosphere. We also had a great breakfast in the Joma bakery...so so far we like this city!. The French influence is very apparent here and the buildings and temples are beautiful and there are cake shops, bakeries and little cafes everywhere. We are also delighted that you can buy proper baguettes with chicken and tuna and ham and egg..hoorah! No more rice for a few days at least!!

We hired a couple of mountain bikes and cycled to a small waterfall out of town. It was so nice to do a bit of exercise after sitting still for the last 3 days and also provided a bit of relief from the heat! It is SOOO hot here!

In the evening after failing miserably to walk to the temple at the top of the hill to see sunset…it was just too hot and I was again suffering from cankle syndrome after being bitten! we strolled around the night market and looked into doing a trek into the mountains for a couple of days.

Feb 21st

After being woken up again by more cock-a-doodle-dooing and yet more flem action we had arranged with the others to go to visit a waterfall 30km from Luang Prabang.

We were joined by another 2 couples who had been on the boat with us so with a group as a group of 12 decided we could get a good deal with a tuk tuk driver to take us out there. The first two chaps that approached us tried to charge an extortinate amount (by Lao standards anyway) and after a heated bartering session we finally got into their tuk tuks only to be driven 100m meters to be told the price was going up again. Having none of it we got out and eventually found a decent bloke who could fit all of us into one tuk tuk and was wiling to wait 3 hours to bring us back.

The waterfall was really nice and it was great to cool off for a couple of hours. We also visited a bear sanctuary which was really well maintained with a few very happy bears (as happy as bears can look!) that had been rescued from bile farms and other such hideous fates.

After arriving back in Luang Prabang and after much deliberation about whether or not to join a trek we have now decided to join Rich, Carrina, Doug and Lainey and head to Vang Vieng tomorrow for a spot of tubing action for Lainey and Rich's birthday.

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Photos

Pak Beng harbour
Our night stop off point day 1

Early morning Pak Beng
Its tradition that the monks get food every morning from the local businesses in return for a blessing........

Comments

[roland]

Nice photo!
I read about the slow boat in Laos. Does it has any toliet / washroom ?