Laos Riders

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March 26th 2009

Published: March 27th 2009

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Travelwash

Laos lady

Waiting for the boat

In Thailand everything is negotiable we had haggled for books, food, clothes and we haggled with the tuk tuk driver to take us to the station, it is all good natured fun.
Our train was due to leave at 10 p m we arrived in good time and trooped along to the platform to find the train waiting and empty. We were immediately befriended by Tony an effeminate Railway waiter who minced off with our bags, showed us to our seats and took our drinks order including “one for me?” before sashaying off to get them.
It is fair to say we had had a couple of drinks and were in festive mood rather than our haggling travellers best when we arrived so overlooked the fact that the drinks were a little expensive, and thought nothing of it when he returned and took our order for breakfast promising to deliver it to our bunks at 9.00 the next day but had to pay now.
We soon settled in and the train moved off and we had nodding acquaintances with our fellow travellers.
What happened next turned our carriage into a group of hastily introduced and gossipy party guests.
He arrived at

Bow chasers

Sat on mats

the end of the carriage, a tallish skinny Thai wearing a white vest and woolly hat he zeroed in on Tony at increasing speed and angry accusing voice landing a kick to Tony's chest before moving in and slapping him around the head a couple of times, a train guard intervened pulled them apart and sent them off to opposite compartments.
Well that got the conversation started!
Everyone was open mouthed but soon introducing themselves, chatting and laughing about what had happened.
Tony reappeared looking shaken and tearful only for his assailant to come lunging back 10 minutes later with another flurry of kicks and slaps before being separated once more by the apologetic and still smiling guard. The mood in the carriage moved from incredulity back to party and soon bottles of Sangsom (local rum) and beer appeared and were passed round as everyone got to know each other. Our carriage was predominantly western and English speaking, the girl in the next bunk to Sue came from Sawtry and George hooked up with Rachel and Melissa former Manchester uni students travelling on their redundancy money.
When we arrived in Chiang Mai we shared a Sangheaw (pickup/taxi conversion) and headed

TARA!

Oscar entertains

into the centre looking for a hostel. It took a while as our first choice was full but we soon found a double room for 350 Baht and a triple for the girls for 450 Baht in a nice hotel with a pool. Sue and I headed off to the night market which was colourful bustling and busy and where I lost my phone to a pickpocket. The girls went off to a bar where George was coaxed up onto the stage to perform a couple of songs with the band to warm and enthusiastic applause. The following night we returned to the area with her and spent a great night with some of the locals George had met and other Laos bound travellers in The Reggae Bar, whose house band featured a sax and trombone for some authentic renditions of ska classics.
The next day we were bundled into a mini van for our journey to Chiang Kong and the Thai/Laos border. The bus ride was thankfully short but it did give us time to get to know a few people and when we went out to eat later, arranged by the tour company, we continued where we'd left

Cheers!

Marina and Mark

off and succeeded in emptying the restaurant fridge of local Leo beer.
The Thai/Laos border is formed by the Meekong River it is narrow but the procedure, documentation and transfers took well over 2 hours, so from an early start we didn't board our “slow boat” until about 11.00 chugging off down river around 11.30. The slow boats are long narrow wooden vessels seating 80 - 100 people in rows of 2 seat wooden benches port and starboard and an open area at the bow end where the bags are stowed below and mats are laid for people to sit on. The passengers were a cross section of nationalities and ages meaning Sue and I were not the oldest travellers for a change. Time was spent reading playing cards, chatting and people-watching in fact anything to keep you mind off the unforgiving bum numbing wooden seats.
The journey was dotted with comic moments and Clive our British eccentric, who first came to our attention when he dozed off in the mini bus and started yapping like a dog, so convincingly that some people didn't realise it was him, was soon joined on board by fellow European eccentrics who kept everyone

Slow boat

just like ours

entertained. Clive a tall fair haired 50 something, dressed in a tie dyed vest and wearing a baseball cap back to front, claimed to be a photographer for National Geographic but he was unscrewing a bottle of spirit as soon as he sat down, drinking all day and arguing with anyone and everyone it seemed.
Oscar from France was a far more sociable drinker, he suddenly produced a trumpet and started playing (not that well) but soon redeemed himself by engaging with a group of young Laos guys and teaching them to play after a short Laos/French/English lesson.
George and a growing crowd of youngsters (Mark, Tom and Rich from UK, Nicolas, from Argentina, Julia and Svenya from Germany and Marina from Switzerland), established themselves on the mats at the front chatting and playing cards. forming a group of up to 14, some of whom we had met the night before and then spent time with on and off all the way across Laos.
Watching the captivating Laos countryside drift by, the rolling hills and towering limestone peaks, the river calm then racing as we were steered left and right through narrowing passages, the people in small boats or on

Sultry sky

Sun masked by smog

the riverbank smiling and waving was wonderful and absorbing. The scenery whilst beautiful was misty and indistinct like an impressionist watercolour interpretation. This was due to a succession of huge fires that we saw racing up the hillsides and consuming all in their way and were evidenced in the steaming ashen smokey black stumped landscape in their wake. It marred the potentially colourful panorama and hung about the rising contours surrounding towns and villages like a dull grey blanket.
We made one stop overnight after 6 or7 hours cruising at Pakbeng; where children scrambled from the bank to grab bags as they were disgorged from the hold to earn money dragging them up the giddily steep stairs to the village; then sailed on for a further 6 hours the next day to our destination Luang Prabang.
This delightful little town is full of colonial style houses many of which have been converted into welcoming inexpensive hostels and shops. Our hostel, tucked down a side street, was typical with a dark wood interior and staircase, a huge double bed in our room with crisp cotton sheets and below a fan made from a converted Spitfire propeller! It was expensive 80,000 kip

Fire

Laos burning

a night (about £8) but as I had just become a millionaire by taking 1,000,000 kip from the ATM I could afford it!
There is a slow paced feel to the town as you walk around the streets where the French colonial architecture of brick and wooden ship lapped buildings with pretty verandahs overlook the bustle of daily life and the hustle of the brightly lit night market.
Needless to say Sue's face lit up at the same time as the night market lights came on and strolling amongst the stalls was made more interesting by the variety of goods unlike any we had seen to date and the fact that the vast majority of them were Laos made.
Consequently the girls in our group found things (silver jewelry in particular) that they just had to buy. I ended up captivated by a group of Laos ladies who wouldn't let me leave until I had bought a local hat; a kind of colourful beret, very fetching they agreed.
Sometimes you just have to have some western food and finding a bakery offering sandwiches full of mouth watering ingredients on a choice of fresh breads and huge colourful sugar dusted pillow

Pakbeng

Looking down to the boats

like cakes served with mugs of fresh iced coffee topped with whipped cream and chocolate was more than mere Halls could bear! Thankfully we only stayed 2 nights and continued our journey by mini bus the next day (along with Lauren) enduring 4 hours bouncing along a torturous twisting route through the mountains to Van Viang home of the tractor tyre tube!
The bus stop is a 10 minute drive from the centre and all seems quiet but we were loaded onto a tuk tuk and as we approached the town centre so the lights and noise increased.
We had an idea that the hostel we were looking for was near the river so we were deposited there, hoisted our rucksacks on our backs and wandered off, after a couple of enquiries it seemed the cheaper rooms were across the bridge. It was dark with few lights and the bridge was a 100 yd rickety narrow wooden construction that started to sway as you ventured across and with ill fitting planks that moved as you stepped on them. Relief at getting to the other side was soon dispelled when we were informed that the cheapest rooms were actually on the

Riverside dwellings

Typical Laos village

other side! The journey back was made worse first by encountering people coming in the opposite direction; then being followed by an impatient girl on a motor bike! Safely on the other side we met a Canadian guy named Destin, dressed in green who informed us it was St Patrick’s Day and we should come along to his bar for a cheap drink later. With his help we found a room dumped our gear and went off in search of food only to find Mark and Nicolas and 2 girls sitting in the first restaurant we walked past so after dinner we all went off to the Smile Bar for a bit of a jig.
Van Viang is a small town where the main development is between the main road and the river, apart from the main bridge the river is criss crossed by smaller wooden replicas attaching the town to a small island filled with late night bars and developing resorts.
There were 7 of us in our group that head to the river one afternoon as Julia, Svenya and Marina had arrived the day after us
The main attraction is “Tubing” whereby you rent a huge rubber ring,

Waiting for the boat

Villagers on a regular trip

get driven up river and float back. On the way you pass a collection of bars where bar staff (mostly western) pull you in to ply you with drinks and get the more adventurous to ride a variety of swings zip lines and slides that all send the rider back into the water.
Don't even think about risk assessment with the mix of alcohol, water and scant safety equipment it is a spectacle for everyone but the young, invincible and fearless participants...oh and Sue.
We had a good time but were soon ready to move on; George however had found an oasis of young people, fun and the potential of work so she decided to stay.
Saturday lunchtime we went off to the travel agents to start the first stage of our trip over the border to Vietnam.

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