Laid back in Laos

Leaving Chiang Mai was tough, we would have hung on there with our bare fingernails if possible but as it was, we went one day past our Bangkok visa and took a minibus to Laos. While it all started out sedately, it quickly turned to chaos and hanging on with those same bare fingernails to the seats in the bus as we careened down the road playing chicken with ongoing traffic and plugging our ears to the shrieks of the Irish girls in the front seat. As it happens, there were three buses departing for the boats to take us to the Laos border at the same time. While the bus in the back was taking his time, our bus and the other were determined that one was not going to get there before the other and passing on blind curves and intersections was all part of the game. People in the bus were calling the driver a lunatic and yelling at him to slow down but in Laos...they don't hear so well. Testament to the fact that we made it, here we are.

The Boat Trip! We slept the first night at the Thai/Laos border on planks disguised as beds and set across the river in the morning to secure our Laos visas and catch the boat to Luang Prabang where we are now. Ivan and I caught one of the first boats and when we got across, I asked him for some money at which point a look of terror crossed his face as he informed me that the money belt with $2000.00USD was still back in the room. The Laos man next to us got on his cell phone and phoned the hotel telling them not to go into room #5 - fat chance! Ivan jumped back in the boat. There was a guy on a motorcycle waiting on the Thai side to take him back to the hotel and in the meantime I sat on the Laos side frantically ripping the packs apart while listening to the cellphone guy tell me over and over that there was no way in hell the money would still be there. Soon the boat returned with Ivan waving the thumbs up - a close call and another lesson learned. We seem to be in dire need of more lessons.

After lugging our stuff up yet ANOTHER STEEP HILL, there are nothing but hills here when you are laden with baggage, we took a bus to the boat dock. The boat was not the luxury model with padded seats as we were sold but a pre-war model with 45 degree angled seats and a smelly, knocking engine in the back. There were 70 seats on the boat and after those seats were full - they proceeded to load the boat to over 100 people at which point myself and a Spanish guy got off the boat and stated firmly to the agent that we were not going on a boat that was sinking lower and lower into the water with each loading passenger and his/her baggage. The funny part is that people were still trying to load onto the boat. While backpacking is a hardy proposition, this was insane. Long story short, they got another boat when mutiny was imminent. Although, it was still not the lovely luxury boat sitting idle at the end of the que. Bugger.

The trip down the Mekong is lush and lovely and as green as your eyes can handle. The touts on the boat wree selling ice cold Beer Lao (really, really good beer) at a fast pace and things went rather smoothly the first day on the river although very, very hard on the bum. The other option for getting to Luang Prabang are speedboat trips which take 6 bone shattering hours as opposed to 2 days as they rocket down the river leaving wakes the size of ocean waves. They went speeding by us so fast that we couldn't even get a picture of them and the passengers have to wear crash helmets with visors in order to keep breathing. We reached our night stop in the dark with everyone scrambling UP the hill AGAIN - UP - to find guesthouses. We hung out with the 2 Spanish guys - partners - who secured us a room as we toiled our way upward. As soon as we had checked in, the proprieter made the rounds of rooms proferring marijuana or opium as to the lodgers preference. Drugs in Laos - I don't think so but the Spaniards and Americans were firing up within ten minutes of our arrival. Don't they read the guidebooks??! The next morning we thought we were very clever to load onto the smaller boat with cushions. Not so clever it seems. The weather was cold, the boat was small and if possible, even more uncomfortable than the day before. We moved to the back of the boat and endured 6 more hours of banging engines and hard seats. The scenery was amazing but when you have check to make sure you still have a posterior upon arrival, not all that it's cracked up to be. The speedboat option was starting to make some sense.

We are here though and in the guidebook it says that Luang Pragang is laid back - comatose is more like it - just the way we like it. We are just strolling the old colonial town and hanging out. We plan to do an ecotourism trek here, elephants and rafting and visiting villages in the next couple of days. The temples here are beautiful and the goods, tapestries and cloth here are far superior to the Thailand merchandise. The Laos people are soft and friendly - very easygoing and there are some great little hideouts like Tangier bookshop which makes the most delectable chocolate mousse on the planet and you can lay on big soft cushions and read while eating. Yes.

We will miss the Thai food as it is our favourite so far. The Laos food is not as satiable but you can get anything you like on the western menu too. Spaghetti, tuna melts, fries, burgers - whatever. It's not pricey and it's plentiful and the markets sell a lot of good roadside local foods too.

Our room is $9.00 USD which is pricey as you can get rooms as low as $4.00 but we have a lovely bathroom and are comfortable and our bums do appreciate it. A few more days here and then to Vang Vieng in the south and then to Angkor Wat Cambodia and then over to the seaside for Christmas as we would prefer to be on a beach for Christmas.Our original plan of a month in Laos is not in the cards as our visas are only good for 15 days but that's ok, sea, sand etc. is a good option. As we have no set plans, things are apt to change daily.

Our best wishes to everyone at home as you prepare for the season, have a think of us and a little cheer. Will post pix soon. Cheers to you.