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Published: April 20th 2006
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On top of the bus
This is the view from the top of the bus looking backwards. Yes, I gave up my seat inside to Stef ;-) Early on 2nd April we crossed the border into Laos at Houang Xai after spending an ordinary night in Chiang Khong which is a basic border town with not much more than a few (very cheap) guesthouses and a few businesses.
At the border, we did note that although it was Sunday, many people were getting their Laos visas. It seemed that we have happened upon a bit of a scam, as those travellers on our mini-bus to Chiang Khong yesterday were told that they had to arrange their visas through the mini-bus agent (at 1500 baht each for a fifteen day visa) as they wouldn't be able to get it at the border as it was Sunday. Anyway, as soon as we crossed the border, we headed for the bus station to buy our tickets for Luang Nam Tha. The bus station was really quite an interesting place. Certainly, chooks and pigs found it quite a cool place to hang out as the wandered in and out at will. An hour before the bus was due to leave, it was already chockers with people, mostly locals, heading of on the "new road" to Nam Tha. Steve squeezed in next
Stef at a near dry waterfall
This is Stef deseed in the Laos style (not showing any flesh or interesting bits) at a waterfall that had barely a trickle as it's almost the end of the dry season to the driver, and I sat in the only remaining seat on the bus over the rear left wheel (the locals preferred to stand for this 8 hour journey rather than sit in that seat!) After clambering over a French man, I sat with my knees up high about my chin in one of the smallest seats made for man - thank goodness my Mum taught me yoga as a kid! I got chatting to the French man who advised me that he had made this trip a few months earlier, and it actually took 18 hours instead of the 8 hours it should take; the road was nowhere near finished and the buses tend to break down every few hours with people often having to get out and push. I knew we were then in for an interesting ride.
After our first toilet break (men go in front of the bus, women at the back) Steve decided to join a couple of other fellas on the roof of the bus. Bear in mind that the road is simply a path of rubble and sand, so it is quite a rough and bumpy ride. However, Steve loved it! We
Stef and the dodgy bus
This was breakdown (puncture) stop number two. Note the very high clearance caused by the moterbikes on the roof tied on top of the LPG cylinders and spare diesel tanks for the bus. Safety first! both actually really enjoyed the ride, despite being thrown about most of the time, as the views were just amazing. Happily, with no breakdowns or slippery roads, we arrived at Nam Tha 8 hours later. We had travelled approximately 200 kms.
Luang Nam Tha, at first impression, felt like a Chinese town. It was getting dark so we found a guesthouse, dumped our stuff and headed out to explore. It was quite a quiet town, as far as we could make out, and not many travellers around. We decided the next day to hire bikes and look around the outskirts of town.
In the morning, we had a look at the eco-tourism treks that can be done from here, however they cost $25 per person per day. After spending $6 pp in Myanmar, this price was a bit steep for our budget so we decided to hire a couple of mountain-bikes. We cycled out to a waterfall, which was more of a trickle as it is now dry season, but we did manage to cool off in a small pool. As in Myanmar, women must not show their bodies in public, so I had Steve's longhi on over my bikini. At one stage, two young girls and two young men, all dressed in jeans and long shirts, appeared from up stream. With much hand language it transpired that they wanted Steve to take a photo of them with me, sitting in my longhi in the water. This all felt very odd as they stood upright and serious on a rock next to me sitting on another rock, but they were very pleased with it. As I have been used to being covered up in our recent travels, I felt almost naked!!! We cycled home along a canal where loads of kids were cooling off in the water after school. Jumping from vines and rocks into the water and drifting down the canal in inner tubes. Of course, all the girls were fully clothed.
Later we had lunch back Nam Tha. This place only sold beef or pork noodle soup. think it has to be the best meal I've had so far in Laos - like the Vietnamese 'pho', the Laos 'foe' is beef with while noodles in soup presented with a plateful of mint, beans, basil, lime and other green herbs and veggies. Just beautiful.
Earlier that morning we met a lady called Kirsten who was from Denmark. She is living here with her husband who has a 6 year contract working for the EU to build an education programme in Northern Laos. She told us a few interesting things about Nam Tha. She confirmed our view that it was very influenced by the Chinese as it is so close to the border, and once the road from Yunan is completed in a couple of years, the affect will be even larger. One of the influences she hasn't liked was the Chinese penchant for dog. She warned us not to eat at the restaurant opposite the Panda cafe as it was serving dog and people weren't aware. In fact, the restaurant owners had recently been asked not to "prepare" their dogs during the day as it was putting off the customers in the Panda who were able to see from the restaurant such "preparations".
We decided to leave Nam Tha the next morning as we heard that Luang Prabang province was far more beautiful. We also wanted to go to Luang Prabang to book a guest house for Laos New Year (Water Festival) the following week. Most travel in Laos is by early morning bus, so we decided to get our tickets 6.30am and then wander across to the Panda Cafe for a spot of breakfast. All of a sudden,as we sat there waiting for our rice soup and banana pancake, Steve glared at me pointed to the far wall of the restaurant and said in the sternest voice I have ever heard come from his mouth, "Steph, look that way NOW". He still hasn't told me what he saw across the road at the Chinese restaurant, but whatever it was it was going on for a long time as I had to look at the wall for most of half an hour. Needless to say, we didn't eat much of our breakfast that morning.
At 8am we set of on our 8 hour journey to Luang Prabang. We took a local bus that again was packed to the hilt, but this one also carried extra baggage on the roof. Not only was it carrying a number of LPG gas canisters on the roof, but tied on top of them were two motorbikes...... So, we set of on our journey. About an hour into our journey, we had our first tyre burst. The smell of brake fluid and smoke rising from the wheel was kind of a hint beforehand. We all got off the bus while the driver and his travelling engineers (other passengers) took off the tyre, refit one, changed their mind and refit another. An hour later we got back on the bus. The same tyre burst again another two times on the way to Luang Prabang. The journey took 12 hours, but it was a very social one for all the stops we made! We also made stops so passengers could buy from vendors on the road selling anything from bananas to squirrels (dead) and rats (alive).
We stayed in Luang Prabang for one day to book a room for the New Year, then headed of the next day to Muang Ngoi.
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