wow. just wow. that's how we describe the last couple of weeks.
it started way back in december while standing on the deck of a boat floating up the irrawaddy river in myanmar (burma) where we met a guy from the czech republic. seriously. he was traveling with his girlfriend and they had just come from laos. "oh, we're heading there soon, too," i said. "where's your guidebook," he asked "i have to show you what you should do."
book appears, maps are consulted and an itinerary is born. here's the key piece of advice: "everyone crosses at huay xai and turns right down the mekong for luang prabang. YOU want to turn left and head north."
so we did.
we crossed the border from thailand at chiang khong across the mekong river to huay xai, laos on january 29, 2012. we arrived just behind a tour group full of australians heading down the mekong on the slow boat. chaos? yep. did we know what to do? nope. by the time we made it even close to the first window, it was a scrum. bless my 4'11" wife who wedged her way to the front and pressed our passports, applications and photos through the window. someone behind the glass took them from her hand and we prayed for the best.
two hours later, laos visas in hand, we found a tuk-tuk to bring us to the bus station, which is inexplicably seven miles out of town, and bought two tickets to luang nam tha. happily, we met two brits, two germans and one israeli while waiting to depart. a ukulele and a guitar were produced and we filled the station with a mix of music. i hope the locals enjoyed it, we did.
bus rides in laos are one of the things that really bring home the fact that you are in southeast asia. all the seats sell out, then they load the aisle with bags of rice and fertilizer and whatever else people need to transport and they sell tickets to those willing to sit there. a bus meant for 40 people suddenly contains at least 65. air conditioning? ha.
we made a loop through northern laos over two weeks with our itinerary including luang nam tha, nong khiaw, muang ngoi, back to nong khiaw and down the nam ou river to luang prabang. each leg became more and more beautiful as we headed deeper into the hills that border myanmar to the west, china to the north and vietnam to the east.
our new love is muang ngoi, a tiny village up the nam ou river only accessible by boat. there are no cars, just one street (unpaved), no internet and electricity between 6pm and 9pm each night. we spent each day following the same agenda. breakfast, hiking to a village or up the river for a few hours, nap, dinner, beers, rinse and repeat. and all of that for a daily average of $30 for the two of us.
we took hikes out to villages a couple of hours inland surrounded by rice fields, spires of karst and water buffalo. we would stop, look around and think "this is why we travel." of course, a couple of times, we would just break out in smiles and say to each other "holy freaking cow, we're in laos!"
needing to meet a friend in luang prabang, we took a six hour boat ride stuffed into a long tail boat for 70 miles downstream. average speed? mmm... about, 12 mph.
compared to the rest of northern laos, luang prabang turned out to be a little bit of carmel, ca in the middle of southeast asia. that's not a bad thing, either. with the lingering french influence from colonial times we suddenly had available to us croissants and baguettes. after days of rice and noodles (no complaint, mind you) we loved the bread. and, in addition to that, the best part of our arrival was seeing a dear friend sitting on the veranda of our hotel as we arrived. there she was, our friend jayne, in the middle of southeast asia. she traveled 36 hours to meet us on our travels. we had countless friends tell us "we'll meet you on the road, we can't wait." jayne is the first to make it a reality. how strange, however, to disembark from a boat on the mekong river after 6 hours, pull up to a hotel deep inside of laos and see a friend from san francisco looking like it was the most normal thing in the world.
it's been a good ride and we can see how attractive a return trip to laos could be. might be sooner than later, in fact.
but first, cambodia up next with the promise of old temples at angkor wat and blue seas off the shore of sihanoukville. we'll report back.
 |
| nam ou river, nong khiaw, laos. our view nearly each day. |
it started way back in december while standing on the deck of a boat floating up the irrawaddy river in myanmar (burma) where we met a guy from the czech republic. seriously. he was traveling with his girlfriend and they had just come from laos. "oh, we're heading there soon, too," i said. "where's your guidebook," he asked "i have to show you what you should do."
book appears, maps are consulted and an itinerary is born. here's the key piece of advice: "everyone crosses at huay xai and turns right down the mekong for luang prabang. YOU want to turn left and head north."
so we did.
 |
| village on the road to luang nam tha, laos. note the satellite dish next to thatched huts. |
two hours later, laos visas in hand, we found a tuk-tuk to bring us to the bus station, which is inexplicably seven miles out of town, and bought two tickets to luang nam tha. happily, we met two brits, two germans and one israeli while waiting to depart. a ukulele and a guitar were produced and we filled the station with a mix of music. i hope the locals enjoyed it, we did.
 |
| bus to luang nam tha, laos. we have no idea if the tickets in the aisle cost less. |
bus rides in laos are one of the things that really bring home the fact that you are in southeast asia. all the seats sell out, then they load the aisle with bags of rice and fertilizer and whatever else people need to transport and they sell tickets to those willing to sit there. a bus meant for 40 people suddenly contains at least 65. air conditioning? ha.
we made a loop through northern laos over two weeks with our itinerary including luang nam tha, nong khiaw, muang ngoi, back to nong khiaw and down the nam ou river to luang prabang. each leg became more and more beautiful as we headed deeper into the hills that border myanmar to the west, china to the north and vietnam to the east.
 |
| boat to muang ngoi, laos. up the nam ou river. |
we took hikes out to villages a couple of hours inland surrounded by rice fields, spires of karst and water buffalo. we would stop, look around and think "this is why we travel." of course, a couple of times, we would just break out in smiles and say to each other "holy freaking cow, we're in laos!"
 |
| trail out of town, muang ngoi, laos. |
needing to meet a friend in luang prabang, we took a six hour boat ride stuffed into a long tail boat for 70 miles downstream. average speed? mmm... about, 12 mph.
compared to the rest of northern laos, luang prabang turned out to be a little bit of carmel, ca in the middle of southeast asia. that's not a bad thing, either. with the lingering french influence from colonial times we suddenly had available to us croissants and baguettes. after days of rice and noodles (no complaint, mind you) we loved the bread. and, in addition to that, the best part of our arrival was seeing a dear friend sitting on the veranda of our hotel as we arrived. there she was, our friend jayne, in the middle of southeast asia. she traveled 36 hours to meet us on our travels. we had countless friends tell us "we'll meet you on the road, we can't wait." jayne is the first to make it a reality. how strange, however, to disembark from a boat on the mekong river after 6 hours, pull up to a hotel deep inside of laos and see a friend from san francisco looking like it was the most normal thing in the world.
 |
| our friend jayne crossing one more thing off her list: scooter ride through the countryside of southeast asia. |
it's been a good ride and we can see how attractive a return trip to laos could be. might be sooner than later, in fact.
but first, cambodia up next with the promise of old temples at angkor wat and blue seas off the shore of sihanoukville. we'll report back.
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