the long and lonely road

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The bus leaves at 5.30am for Laos. An ungodly hour but necessary because it takes 8 hours to reach Muang Khai. Our bags are unceremoniously thrown on the roof and 20 passengers crammed inside. We are all mostly European extraction. 2 English girls, 1 Canadian girl, 2 Israel guys, a Korean mother and daughter, 2 old French guys, 1 Yankee Dutchman, 1 Korean guy, a couple from I don’t know and 4 Australians.

The road is poor to say the least, maximum speed about 20km an hour. There is a lot of road works happening so soon this will be just another road. We wind up and down and round and round the rainforest clad mountains. Passing is a very close manoeuvre.

After 2hours travel we reach the border, our passports stamped then restamped, people purchase visa’s, than more viewing and more stamping. Lucky there is only 20 of us because it takes a hour or so.

Once on the Laos side the road is brand new, still very winding but a little faster.

We stop at a little village for something to eat. Chicken pho goes down well although only we and the bus driver and his offsider eat. I think the backpackers are too poor.

Lonely planet writes the bus is never full as we journey on I realise why. We collect another 20 passengers plus a variety of produce along the way. The conductor is quite the entrepreneur.

3 hours later we arrive in Muang Khai. The Korean lady and her daughter, the Frenchman and us all want to take the boat down the river to Muang Noi. The boat normally leaves in the morning but with a little negotiations a boat is acquired for 1.4 million kip.(160 aussie) the next thing is money luckily Kathy has brought some US which we can exchange for kip.

The boat holds 10, is a long tail boat with a plank each side for seats. The trip takes 3.5 hours. What a scenic ride. The rainforest covered limestone cliffs rise 300 metres up from the green river which rushes round bends and over rapids to our destination.

Arriving Muang Noi later, which only has one dusty street, we find accommodation impossible to obtain. Daniel suggest we drink all night but electricity only operates for 3 hours a day. Our friends are struggling to. Sometimes a loud voice can be an advantage and a local offers us his bedroom for the night, mattresses on the floor who cares, we invite the Korean lady Joy and her daughter Jenny to join us.

We adjourn to eat and an odd beer Lao and sleep the sleep of the exhausted traveller.

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