Laos Ain't All That Laos-y :)

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Sabai dee from Laos! I am currently in Luang Prabang, Laos. When I read over my last entry, I realized that it sounded like I hadn't taken my Ritalin - as in, a bit all over the place and not the most eloquent vocabulary. So, I will do my best to amend that in this entry. However, don't expect Shakespeare either. 😊
Laos feels quite different from Thailand. As the Southeast Asians are famous for saying, "Same Same, But Different." And my experience in Laos has been quite different from that of Thailand. First of all, the Thais are quite better organized. However, this is understandable, as they have been working with tourists for a significantly longer time than Laos. It did add some significant discomfort to my travel, however. Although I have to say that the absolute ride from hell came not from Laos but from Thailand. I booked with a travel company, to save time, to take a night minivan from Chiang Mai to the border town of Chang Khong. Imagine a sardine in a can being shaken violently, and that is what we all became that night. The minivan was absolutely packed with people, and I have never seen a guy drive so quickly, and go around curves like that. I felt like we were going to flip over several times, and needless to say, I got no sleep! I wouldn't usually spend my precious blog time on complaining about a bus ride, but this truly was an ordeal. So, for those of you out there who are contemplating taking the night minivan over to Chang Khong from Chang Mai, take the day bus! It is worth the wasted day to have a more comfortable trip!
I enjoyed the slow boat a lot. The scenery was really beautiful, but, unfortunately, very hard to capture by camera because, for some reason, it was a little bit misty. However, I think that it was more about the experience than anything else. For the good and the bad. Unfortunately, on the first day, we had a few snags. The boat had actually overbooked, so a lot of people had to sit on the floor. I fortunately was able to obtain a seat, but this girl kept sitting on my feet, which was rather frustrating. She didn't seem to notice until each time I had to pry my feet from her butt. Kinda odd, isn't it? Anyways, it was nice to talk to people, a Canadian girl on my right who works on an organic farm six months out of the year and travels six months out of the year - pretty awesome to me - and a British guy who had similar taste in music to me. So, that was nice. On my way off the boat, I encountered a girl that I had met briefly earlier and asked if I could join her group to find a hostel. You know, one out of the many things that I love about backpackers is how easy going they are! People are happy for you to join them even when they don't know you. It is an adventure. And I think that is why when you are backpacking by yourself, you are never really alone unless you want to be. Of course, you aren't always going to meet people that you have this soul connection with, but you will meet people who have interesting stories to share and a different perspective. And also some fun accents!
So, the second snag on the first day was actually really scary. I don't have all the details, because you never really do when there is a lot of hearsay, but I am gonna tell you what I understand of the incident. When you get off the boat on the first day, in this small town, Pakbeng, people surround you with pictures of their guesthouses, asking you, "where are you staying? Come stay here, we have a good price," things like that. Pretty aggressive. Well, you can get a really good deal if you bargain with people - I shared my room with one other person, and we paid 20,000 Kip each, which is the equivalent of about $2.50. So, some people had already booked for more money because they had been led to believe by some tour agencies that there were only a few places to stay there. I knew that this was bullcorn, but I guess some people didn't. Well, apparently, there was this drunk guy started yelling at the man who worked at the hotel - I will henceforth call him the Fat Man because that is the only name I have to give. And then the drunk guy apparently punched the fat guy in the face. Which is a huge problem, for several reasons. First of all, people in Laos are Buddhists, and it is very disrespectful to touch someone's head. Don't ask me why. Secondly, saving face is also very important to people from this part of the world. So, the fat man came back with a couple of his friends and some big wooden sticks and started hitting this guy with the sticks. They were kind of like a cross between sticks and two-by-fours - basically, they could do a lot of damage. And the reason that we saw this was because, once the fight started, there were these terrified screams coming from the local people. The drunk guy started to run for his life, and the fat man and his friends kept hitting him. He even was holding up his hands and they kept hitting him. Now how is that defending your honor, to hit a man who is running away from you? It was pretty scary to see, but the fat man finally stopped and jumped on a motorbike and sped off. The next morning, I had heard that the fat man's brother had followed the drunk guy to his hotel and beat him up again, and that he had a very small life expectancy - this was not true, however, because we all saw the guy get on the boat, looking quite ashamed of himself. And, apparently, he was from the United States. Oh why did he have to be from the states? I am so tired of working hard to not come across as an ugly American, and then someone goes and does something like this. Just like the guy who tried to pay the public river boat with a dollar. So, while I would never condone hitting anybody, much less hitting someone who is running away from you with a big wooden stick, I would also say that you should never act so poorly, especially when you are in a foreign country.
Okay, so, after my little spiel, back to my experience in Laos. As you can tell, my vocabulary is getting progressively less sophisticated, due to me getting more and more tired. The second day was much better, and, although my ankles totally swelled up due to all the water collecting while I was sitting on the boat, the ride was really pleasant. I sat next to a new French friend Antony and he introduced me to some beautiful Portuguese music. Yesterday, I went to a beautiful waterfall, where we were able to go swimming and jump off the falls into the water. That was a lovely experience - now that I have been swimming more, I am realizing how much I like it, especially when I am in nature rather than in the pool! So, today, I spent most of the day at my hostel, partly to charge all my electronics (I know, lame!) and also because my stomach was having some troubles. I think that I needed a day of rest and relaxation anyway.
Earlier tonight, however, I did something that I haven't done in YEARS - I haggled for a personal item. I think that it is different to haggle over an object that you want to buy rather than haggling over the price of transportation, for instance. This kind of haggling actually makes me very uncomfortable, to be honest. The thing is that I feel bad for arguing a lower price, although I know that the original price that they give you is very inflated. Tonight I "haggled" - I use the term loosely because haggling reminds me of the wonderful scene in Monty Python's the Life of Brian, more of an arguing and insulting action, and this was far more civil, involving the passing back-and-forth of a calculator to name the price. It was a beautiful blue coconut necklace - she originally told me eighty thousand and I got it for fifty. Which is probably way more than it cost her to make it - I am sure she made quite a profit on my lack of skills. Anyone have some tips for me? I used to be good at it, but now I feel guilty about it, so I generally avoid market shopping. So, I am open to any ideas 😊
Next to the capital and then off to Vietnam!

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Comments

[Robert]

Haggling
Hey Carolyn I enjoy reading about your travels, and your comments on haggling actually made me think of myself when I first started. Generally, what I found after haggling for a long time, is that they will usually take over 2/3 off the original price! You just have to hold strong, and start really really low. The one thing you have to remember is that you dont need it and make them understand that you are willing to not have it. Just walk away from the deal. I would just show them how much I was willing to pay, and then they woudlnt take it and I would just keep saying that, and then if they weren't coming closer, I would just walk away. Generally, most of the things that you are buying, you can find in other stores as well, and they would rather sell it to you for much less than have you buy it somewhere else Enjoy your travels Robert

[carolyns220]

Thanks Robert! I will take the advice into mind!