Chiang Mai to Luang Pabang (or Prabang, or Phraban)
Travel Location: Asia,Thailand,North-West-Thailand,Chiang-Mai
The trip from Thailand to Laos was very interesting….After spending about 5 hours in a minibus we have arrived to Mekong River Chiang Kong. The accommodations for the night were basic with toilets and showers outside…somewhat challenging, considering that the temperature dropped in the night significantly…I think it was close to freezing. We crossed the river to Lao in the morning on those long, flat bottom and very low boats. Passport control prior to that was minimal at best. Lao side was a lot more diligent, and a lot less organized with passports and visas. You suppose to get a visa on arrival (provided that you have a passport size photo with you). After filling out an application you give it along with your passport to Lao border official, then you wait, and wait and wait…There is no particular order of how visa is given. When the visa is placed in your passport you are called to the same window for a payment (calling: a Lao official sticks out your passport opened on the picture page from the window…you should be able to look over dozens of other tourist waiting for the same thing and recognize yourself, luckily several English speaking tourists by the window took upon themselves reading names and nationalities of those called out loud). The visa is expensive at 35$ for US national, there is also 1$ surcharge for overtime (Sunday and Saturday). After getting your passport you go to the next window (less than 3 feet away), so that your visa could be stamped. Next Lao official is 20 or so feet up the road, where you are dragging your bags and hoping to get a tuk-tuk (it is hot by this time of the day…around 11am now). The purpose of the last Lao check point is not clear to me…but the border patrol officer only glances at my passport and waives me on. Now, to the boat…Slow boat to Luang Prabang is suppose to be an experience that offers you an opportunity to connect with locals (that is according to a Lonely Planet guide)…yeah…not really. Out of a hundred or so people on a boat perhaps 10 of them were locals (5 were crew members/workers on the boat selling food and such)…the rest were people just like me…or not…a few guys and girls gathered in front of the boat and proceeded to have a good time for the length of the trip of 6 or so hours to the first /overnight stop (drinking, dancing, singing to an iPod accompaniment). I kept hoping that they would get tired and sleepy, and shut up eventually…they didn’t…continued even in Pak Ben where we have stopped for the night…I sound a bit bitchy here…but the noise distracted from the trip. The views along the Mekong are spectacular; they don’t need to be accompanied by singing of trashed idiots. The night in Pak Ben was somewhat quiet (did not get the same hotel as the drunks and generators stop working at 10pm…yes it is that remote, no electricity). In the morning, after talking to two Kiwis (discussed our misfortune of taking a slow boat) have decided to tag along and take a bus to Luang Prabang. I am so happy about this decision. I have paid for the boat, so paying for the bus was extra…but the experience…Laos’s country side is so beautiful (I don’t think I have enough words to describe the beauty of the country….remember movies about King Cong? With all the unbelievable green lush mountains and waterfalls? Laos is just like the movie, but better (same, same…but different as they say in Thailand) Driving by the villages that if not in a stone age…somewhere close to it…Thatched bamboo homes…naked children running around…a fast food stop for local delicacies of rats….fried or freshly killed..your choice. The bus took us from Pak Ben to Udonxai, a connection stop. The next bus to Luang Prabang was scheduled at 3pm, that gave us 2 hours of time, which we spent wondering around the town (small) drinking Lao coffee (delicious) at local hot spot (dirt floor, flies, not sure when the tables were washed the last time…but never the less, popular with tourists (possibly because you did not have to seat on the child size chairs at the table that is about knee high) We arrived to a bus station promptly, ready for our 5 hour ride and found out the new meaning of time, or rather a definition of Lao time…Bus departed from the station around 5pm (2 hours behind the schedule and spent additional half hour after departure at the gas station next to the bus station, not getting gas, just sort of hanging out…) The view were spectacular once again, perhaps even better this time, since the bus was a double-decker, and all the valleys and mountains look even more beautiful from the top deck. The ride was bumpier however…do you know that the give out little yellow plastic bags in the beginning of the ride to each passenger? Guess why…I didn’t have to experience it first hand, thanks to previously purchased Dramamine…
Arrival to Luang Prabang was uneventful. After checking with several guest houses that were full for the night (it is high season here) I found one that had a room. The room has attached bathroom and hot water shower (a blessing) for only $6 a night…not very expensive, but is not cheap by Lao standards either…but taking into account high season…It is ok place to stay for the night. Luang Prabang is very small, as I found out the next day…One main street…a few others connected to it…most people here are tourists…prices reflect that…still cheaper then NYC…but not what you would expect in an undeveloped 3rd world country. You can eat local, but unlike in Thailand, those places here are few and far between. Not much to do here besides eating and shopping. There are a few natural wonders around: some caves and waterfalls…will explore them tomorrow
