Tuk Tuk?: The road to Laos

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This perhaps a bit short and unimaginative update might feel a little less than the usual. Still it is required to keep the story going and there is much more to come as I begin writing on Laos.

After our expedition to Angkor Wat we stayed for 2 more days in Bangkok. These days were quite fun as we find Bangkok a truly enjoyable city. This short respite also gave us the time to arrange onward transportation. Hence at 9 Sep we boarded the night train heading for Chang Mai. Chang Mai is somewhat the cultural capital of Thailand and our transport hub for northern Laos. Although we heard a lot of good things about Chang Mai, were much more interested in Laos and thus it functions as a quick stopover on our way north.

We arrived at Chang Mai at noon the next day. From the train station we hiked into town to find our guesthouse of choice to be full (even in the low season). We settled for an alternative and arranged a 1 day adventure trek for the next day. We also researched an elephant training course but didn’t book it yet as we wanted to see whether we like elephants or not. This became possible the next day as the 1 day adventure trek also included a 1 hour elephant ride.

The next day we decided against the training course. We did enjoy the elephant ride and the elephants but the whole thing was way to commercial for our liking. Still we’ve seen and ridden on an elephant. Hardly a life altering experience but it is yet another thing to scratch of the bucket list. Next up was a hike to a waterfall which was quite nice. I especially liked the hike but the waterfall was a bit packed with tourists (even in the low season). After the trek back we boarded our transport to the rafting camp. It is here were we would ‘brave’ level 3 rapids.

Four your information: Rapids are divided into 5 levels, 1 being the easiest and 5 the hardest. As I see it, level 1 and 2 can be overcome by doing nothing at all. You can simply let yourself float along the river and be safe and sound in the end. Level 3 is somewhat the same as long as your driver isn’t drunk, stoned or physically or mentally challenged. Level 4 and 5 actually require a good driver and a decently dedicated team of rowers. As I said, we embarked on level 3 rapids and thus got a little wet, had some fun, but weren’t really challenged in the end. That being said I quite liked the whole experience. Last up was bamboo rafting.

Sounds quite cool but it only really involves boarding a makeshift bamboo raft which barely supports 5 people and push yourself along a slow steaming river venetian style. Quite a boring experience, had I not been given the task to commandeer the craft, with Ilse as 1st mate. Balance was the key here and we arrived safe and sound at base camp. From base camp we departed to a cultural village. This last activity wasn’t very interesting mostly because the lack of culture in the village. The day ended with a 1 hour trip back to Chang Mai.

Because we didn’t do the elephant training we had a day of rest which we used to arrange local transport to Chang Kong (Thai-Laos border town). Also, Ilse had a Thai massage which she wouldn’t do again, meaning it was average at best. At this point it was time to leave Thailand again and make our way to Laos. The bus ride from Chang Mai to Chang Kong was a mere 6 hours of which 3 turned out a bit hellish due to ‘café on stage’. This Thai style stand up comedy/music/dance/something ish can give the toppers (a Dutch substitute) a run for their money any day when it comes to shear annoying-ness. Still, we persevered and close to insanity reached Chang Kong, only to clear customs, jump on a boat and ferry into Laos!

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Photos

Thailand
From Laos!

Comments

[moazzam]

i love the laos countries,and by tuk tuk. thns