Introduction to Laos

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After possibly one of the smoothest border crossings ever, we made it in to country number two on Wednesday. The Mekong River forms the northern part of the border between Thailand and Laos, and there is no bridge between the two border towns. No problem though, as we quickly got our passports stamped on the Thai side then hopped (carefully!) in to a long tail boat for the 2 minutes whizz across the river. A long old form greeted us on the Laos side, but equally quick once it was filled in and passed to the somewhat grumpy immigration staff (are any immigration staff not grumpy?!!).

We were greeted by a Laos man who spoke excellent English and pointed us in the direction of a minibus going our way. It probably wasn't the cheapest and he definately got a commission, however we made it to Luang Namtha in 3 hours as promised so we can't complain! It took most of the 3 hour journey to try and figure out which side of the road they drive on in Laos... our driver seemed to enjoy taking the 'racing line' on every bend through the mountainous terrain - even if that involved going way over to the left (they drive on the right here... probably!).

We are staying in a lovely guesthouse (Zuela Guesthouse, apparently after the owners daughter) which was only built a couple of years ago so is spotlessly clean and everything works as it should! It's a favourite amongst travellers so we met lots of people from all over Europe and North America (yes, some Americans actually do have passports!!). They were all a great source of information on lots of the places we are going to visit - places to stay, places to avoid etc. We also merged in to a big group of 10 and all went out for dinner together on Thursday and Friday evenings.

The town itself, however, has been a little disappointing. We came here, our first trip to Laos, hoping to do some 'trekking' - something this town is famous for. Unfortunately the charges are very high for the first couple of people, dropping the more go on the trip. As we came in the low season, none of the tours had any bookings so the prices for Dave and I would have been astronomical.

We decided instead to have an explore on our own and hired a couple of bicycles to see some of the villages on the edge of town. It was good to get out and about a bit and do some exercise (the food is so good here we've been being a bit naughty!). The area is beautiful, very rural with lots of small villages. Its a shame so much of the beauty has been spoiled by all the 'slash and burn' farming methods, but there are a lot of organisations working with the local people to help preserve the environment.

On Saturday we deceided we'd had enough and moved on to Luang Prabang - World heritage city and generally nice place. We were going to come down on Sunday so had booked an air con 'VIP' bus but changed our minds to travel on Saturday, not bothering to check whether there was a VIP bus going - turns out was only a 'local' bus with no A/C! Luckily it was a bit cloudy and miserable so not that hot (its been averaging about 35 degrees here), although we did break down for about half an hour. It seems in order to be a bus driver here you also need to be a 'bush mechanic'. We were thinking if this had been the UK you would never have seen the passengers calmly getting off the bus and waiting patiently whilst it was fixed - there would have been stern words with the driver, a replacement bus, strongly worded letters of complaint and compensation all round!

After 10 hours we finally made it to Luang Prabang. The journey was only 180 miles, less an hour of stoppages means an average of 20 miles an hour! It gave us plenty of time to admire the scenery, which was again beautiful mountainous terrain. We haven't done much in LP yet, other than spend some time relaxing so will give you the lowdown on the next blog...

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Photos

Typical Laos farmstead
Most of the houses are on stilts, with woven bamboo walls and a grass roof - an OT's dream!!

Farming a rice paddy
These tractor things are brilliant, just an engine and two wheels. Farm in the fields with them then change the wheels for road tyres, hook up a trailor or truck and voila - transport to the market!