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Published: November 29th 2008
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How much change can there really be just walking across one little border? The answer: A lot. I could still see China from the back off the Tuc-Tuc Pickup that took me away form the border, on one of my better days, I could still just about spit internationally, and already I was both overwhelmed and relieved with the change around me as I puttered into northern Laos and Luang Namtha. I was overwhelmed by how different things seemed, and I was relieved by how much more easy and relaxed things seemed here.
My inrtoduction to Laos was truly brilliant. I arrived at the Laos side of the border on foot and asked (in english) where the VISA window was. They told (in english) the correct window. I got to the window and they had to go wake up the VISA guy. I filled in my visa form, while he was already stamping in the loads of stamps required for my VISA-on-arrival, and then I handed him 50 USD to pay the fee which was 35 USD. I got handed back 65USD! I told the guy and he thanked me, I "checked in", at the next window and then walked
She doesn't care
I could have been a dog for all the attention this girl paid me. CHina celebrity status: GOODBYE! across the border handing my passport over to an almost hesitant border guard who magically found the right page in my passport without even opening it up and who used his thumb to indicate which was the right direction to the beautiful country of Laos. I believe two western foreigners (myself and a girl I met in Namtha) used this border that day.
Laos Sabai Dee!
The place was empty. With 1,300,000,000 people (i worte out all those zeoes for emphasis haha) China is one of the more densely populated countries in the world. With 5,600,000 people Laos is one of the least densely populated asian countries. All of its people could fit into on Chinese city, or two "small" chinese towns". The result when you cross the border, is amazing. China is like a milling maddened veritable BEEHIVE of people and activity, and Laos is... well, like the beehive, just without the bees.
I also SWEAR that the sun came out, the clouds ran away, and the temperature rose 5 degrees as soon as my feet hit Laos soil. I felt... free. I was off on another adventure, back on the road again, but also it
One Laos Girl
so adorable.... felt as if a massive weight had been taken from my shoulders. Yes, China (and all my self-imposed responsibilities that went with it) had been taken off my shoulders. No more struggling to learn the language, no more being frustrated with the desire to explore the whole of that massive nation, no more opportunities and possibiliteis being thrown at you left, right and centre, no more (long relieved exhale of breath) China. What can I say? I needed a break! Laos was already prooving to be just that. Things moved slower here, no not just
slower, but
slowly. The icing on the cake was that out of the 4 or 5 Laos people with whom I shared the back of the tuc tuc with, NONE of them paid the slightest bit of attention to me. YES! I wasn't special anymore! ALRIGHT! WOOHOO!!! I listened to them talk though, I was barely out of CHina, I had not had a moment really to enjoy the break from struggling to learn Chinese, and already I was watching their lips and revelling in the sound of a new tongue. It too was slower, smoother, with a nice rounded fruity sound to it that vaguely reminded me of Tagalog and other accents that you hear from the Pacific Islands. In comparison, Chinese is sharp, eclectic and even aggressive. The languages seem to mirror the people, and for the first time in my life I
really understood the meaning of the term "national pysche". The farther we drove from the Chinese border the more I felt the muscles in my shoulders slowly unwind.
I arrived in Luang Namtha, not much to the town really, one major main street, spaciously separated wooden buildings, empty. After taking care of the essentials (guesthouse, money, emails, shower, toilet etc...) I fell into the company of a Robin H. from Nottingham. After discussing the general logistics of robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, we sat down to a DELICIOUS Beer Lao (pretty much the only beer in Laos, and the only one they need! I APPROVE) and gathered up interested passerbys to try and arrange a three day jungle trek. Eventually ,we had our group and so we went for dinner to this place Robin had spotted, but it was closed, so we went next door. Turns out, it is the chinese restaurant of the town. I assume the staff speaks Laos, but they didn't speak any english, and had no menus. In fact, I reckon they were just going to ignore us sitting at that table (5 foriegners, or falang in Laos) and wait for us to go away before I popped out of my chair. "OK, just this ONE LAST TIME, then i'm on a several month holiday from it!" It was quite funny being in laos and "discussing" dishes for 5 people in putonghua. The food was good though, and we had a trek on for tomorrow.
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