We booked the complete transfer between Luang Prabang (Lao) and Chiang Mai (Thailand) via a tour company in LP as we wanted to avoid losing time finding all the transport connections ourselves.

Overview:
– Ticket cost: 310000LAK/pp
– Get to LP North bus terminal
– Take bus from LP to Huei Xai terminal (Bokeo Province)
– Get to the Huei Xai – Chiang Khong river crossing
– Go to Immigration (exit procedures)
– Take boat to Chiang Khong (Thailand)
– Go to Immigration (entry procedures)
– Get to next transport connection to Chiang Mai

The Lao agent (Andy’s Air Ticketing Service, 49/3 Khemkong Road LP, Tel.+856-71260505) gave us a ticket receipt to the border town of Huei Xai and another one which we would show to the tuk-tuk driver there as well as their partner agents along the way for free onward transport.

Initial pick-up was at 18:00 in front of our guest house by tuk-tuk and dropped us off at the LP Nort bus station about 15 minutes later.

At the terminal office we showed our purchase receipt and got our bus tickets. The 19:00 “VIP” bus left almost on schedule (though another traveller told me the buses normally leave when they’re full so we may have been lucky). The ride to Huei Xai took 12 hours (on time).

The trip was not no luxury by western standards but no long bus trip is comfortable and all in all it was not bad. Although all seats were occupied, several pickups were made along the main road, the last being about 5 people who had rolled their car off into the vegetation. (I have no problem this as long as it doesn’t cause big delays or serious discomfort to paying passengers. These poeple also need to get somewhere and don’t have the variety of options we take for granted. They were camped out on the floor and I could only empathise with the discomfort of sitting cramped upright for several hours. There was no on board toilet as explained to us but this is a safer option as they can start to stink; several “refreshment” stops were made. Air con on older buses tends to be a problem so take something warm on board including something for your head.)

We showed our tickets to a tuk-tuk driver in Huei Xai who dropped us off at the partner agent. The partner was located right at the river crossing. They paid the tuk-tuk driver, converted our receipts to minivan tickets for the other side and put a sticker on us to signal a free ride with a tuk-tuk on the Thai side. They excorted us to the immigation office for passport stamping (no fee was involved) and then to the boat. (There is also a money exchange office right at the border office so you can convert your remaining LAK to THB).

Bye Bye Lao. The boat trip to the Thai post was about 5 minutes and there we simply filled out our arrival/departure forms and got our Visa On Arrival stamp for 14 days. Again no fee.

We got on a tuk-tuk near the immigration office, which took us to the partner agent on the Thai side (about 10 minutes). They checked our minivan tickets and half an hour later we were seated in a nice minivan en route to Chiang Mai.

Bike hand-over works like a charm with the guy from Jule Classic. It’s hard to part with the machine though after ten days of intimate riding together.

As in Vang Vieng there are plenty of outdoor activities on offer. As for night life though, by about 23:30 everything is shut aside from some club down by the stadium and The Bowling Alley (no comment).

Beautiful though it is, we immediately notice a change in attitude of the local pople, sadly not positive. The reason for this seems plain: LP has been more and more overrun by tourists in recent years, and especially since attaining world heritage status it’s become a popular destination. Where there is money there are wealth and prosperity, but also greed and all the other associated side effects; where there are tourists there is ignorance and unacceptable behaviour.

It’s easy to have a nice time here and there are plenty interesting things to see. Sadly many rather spoiled by a abundance of tourists not behaving in a dignified manner. It is really a shame.

One evening we go to the temple up on the tall hill in the middle of town at sunset. There’s a boat load of tourists there, chatting, laughing, snapping away. What they don’t seem to take notice of is that there are also a number of worshipers and a monk kneeling there, hands pressed together in evening prayer, the monk chanting away in Buddhist ritual. On they go – the tourists – chatting, laughing, shouting, beeping and clicking with their darned cameras. The poor worshipers trying to contain their frustration at the ruckus and sheer disrespect around them. Some goofhead even goes so far as to start photographing them in prayer. One of the ladies in the worshiping group is clearly annoyed and waves at her to stop but on she goes clickitty-beep…. makes you want to shove their cameras down their throats.

…sigh

There’s a beautiful alms procession early every morning where the monks walk through town and the people give them their food for the day. It’s a unique event but sadly I find even this is somewhat spoiled by hoards of tourists arriving on golf carts and going bleebleep-click, bleebleep-click…. did I mention there’s a MUTE function?

Anyway the main street market in LP is great. There’s good food to be found at the food market. This dude’s papaya salad is the best we’ve tasted so far (of course without the fish sauce).

And this lady makes the best value for money chicken-mayo baguette ever! Delicious!

But we avoided the all you can eat buffets as they’re apparently quite diluted in taste. You can’t go wrong with the fish, chicken and pork ribs straight from the BBQ though.

We spend some time floating around various monasteries and sitting in the peaceful shade of the trees in the courtyards.

On one occasion we meet some monks and we spend the afternoon helping him with his English studies. Also he tells us some interesting information about the Buddhist faith and his duties as a monk.

There is a huge waterfall and bear park a few kilometres out of town which you can easily reach by tuk tuk or scooter and it’s breathtaking. Delicate rock pools cascade through the jungle, filled with sky-blue water which you can swim in. How delightful!

You can also walk up the steep dirt paths and follow the great waterfall to its origin. You’re surrounded by jungle and ancient trees that must be hundreds of years old, and between the trees there are pools of water slowly flowing toward the steep edge of the waterfall.

Luang Prabang is incidentally also the venue for our tree latest tree planting expedition (check out Planting Around the World – Mission 4 & 5).

Recommendations:
– For crying out loud, behave yourself. This is not Disney land, people LIVE here.
– Visit the big waterfall near LP and take your cozzie.
– Visit the stupa on top of the hill in LP for sunset but shut up, mute your camera and take photos of the sunset, not the worshippers.
– If you get up to watch the alms procession but try to keep a low profile. Too many tourists gloating and bleeping make it hard to recognize anything sacred about the affair.
– Spend some time with the monks and help them with their English studies, they’ll really appreciate it. If you have old school books they are in need of these too.

Firstly, why do we have missions 4 and 5 happening in one country?
Simple: as you may have read in our Vietnam post, our time in Vietnam was so fraught with frustration that even the thought of looking for a tree nursery was unbearable. Had there been one in our vicinity, we would certainly have been subjected to one or more scams in just getting there, so the transport and nerve costs would have likely brought us beyond the point of no return.

Thus we decided that the Vietnam tree would be planted in Lao instead, along with the Lao tree.

Picture a country littered with so much live explosive buried underfoot that even farmers have a hard time making use of their land and children are at risk on their daily walk to school; you will appreciate that we were reluctant to go bundu-bashing around the Lao hinterland in search of a nice sunny spot in which to immerse our digging implement and plant a tree.

Having found a nice little nursery on our bike ride into Luang Prabang from the North, we knew this was the place to plant. However without the knowledge of a safe area to plant in, we had to be creative, and so it was that Ebru set her eyes upon a lovely little establishment called WAT PAPHAIMISAIYARAM, a Buddhist monastery in the centre of Luang Prabang.

The monks there approved our request without question – in fact they seemed quite happy about it. I’m not even sure they looked surprised – I just recall that they seemed to think it was a good idea and told us to go for it.

Of course they were all present during our little “planting ceremony” and even helped us getting the job done and promised to look after the little fellas in our absence. Thank you guys!

There were two perfect planting locations in the courtyard: one was an empty little flower bed in front of the stupa – which became home to a lovely little Fire Blossom tree – and a fruit tree went into the ground in the larger flower bed near the accommodation building, left of the temple entrance.

It was all good fun, planting in the warm sunshine, all the young monks standing around watching and helping out. Really a fond memory.

We were then invited to attend the evening chanting and meditation at the temple, which we did later.

We trust our friends at Wat Paphaimisaiyaram will take good care of our little green friends and we hope to see them all again when next we have a chance to return to the lovely town of Luang Prabang.

May you all live in peace and happiness and be free from all suffering!

After Ponsavan we follow highway 7 East, then 6 North until we hit 1C Westward, and we encounter many gorgeous little mountain villages. Riding through here is a joy! Bamboo village after bamboo village. Children wave and cheer as we pass. We stop somewhere to check the map and an old lady who looks like she may have nothing to eat herself brings us a plate of baked sweet potato to nibble on. You really fall in love with these people as you’re passing through; especially the kids.

Vieng Thong is the first stop. There are a two or three guest houses here as far as we can make out and we stay in one directly in front of the main village market (Sou Sa Khone, 60000LAK). It’s been a long ride and after checking in we head straight off in our dust-caked gear in search of food.

We cross a concrete bridge and as we’re taking in the scenery I meet a fella who points out the hot springs about a kilometre out of town – the local bath – and says he can take us there. We’re just hungry right now so I decline.

Across the bridge we find a few little bamboo food shacks, one of which operated by two lovely sisters. They cook us up some great local BBQ skewers (buffalo beef) with a delicious rice noodle and veg dish and we dig in.

What a meal! It’s so tasty we immediately go for seconds and of course there’s some beers to accompany.

As we sit there sipping away in the sunset I notice more and more people humming by on their bicycles and scooters with towels around their necks. They must be going to the springs for a wash. I put the idea to Ebru but she’s set on her hot shower in the guest house. No deal.

Well, we get back to the accommodation and immediately have a power failure. So much for hot shower. I exercise a bit of persuasion and soon Ebru and I are on the bike, towels in hand, headed for the hot springs. About a kilometre down a sand road after the bridge (you only have to follow the towels) we arrive there and check it out. It’s a hive of activity! In the car/bike/torch light you can see men, women, children, all bathing in the steaming water. They’ve built a dam wall against the springs with thick metal tubes extending out of it, bringing the water to various bathing spots arranged downstream.

At first we’re a bit nervous as we’re the only white people there and everybody’s surprised to see us. But soon we’re down to our underwear, being blasted by the piping hot water flowing from the end of the pipe and we’re all giggles and gasps. It’s absolutely awesome! The water is so hot at first it takes you a while to adjust, then afterwards you just sit there as it flows over you and you can feel how your muscles relax. Coming out you’re glowing and your skin is radiant and smooth. Just what the doctor ordered! Needless to say Ebru loves it! We haven’t found so hot a shower since we hit the road in August.

All shiny clean and recuperated we head out to a (the?) local establishment in town to enjoy some beers. We meet a nice Austrian couple who started from Burma and are now traveling through Lao with their 3 young kids (4, 7 & 9) – they couldn’t have made a better decision! He’s recently left his job in waste recycling in Austria and took the opportunity to take the family on an extended trip. They teach the kids three times a week to keep up with school work. Of course all the folks back home think they’re mad and it’s all far too dangerous, but no doubt these kids will remember this as one of the most exciting and valuable adventures that will have helped shaped their minds.

We talk about the metaphorical RESET button that was unexpectedly pressed whilst traveling through this country, bringing on deep questions of what really makes us happy in life and whether we were attaining it in our past routines. It’s a really pleasant evening of conversation and stories while the children are playing card games. The youngest of the children, Ferdinand, has been asked his name a few too may times on this trip, so we all take great pleasure in asking him again and observing his irritated reactions: “FERDINAND! Dad I’m telling these people for the thirty sixth time now and they still don’t get that it’s FERDINAND! …”

Well, our Austrian friends, I hope the reset button serves you well and you find that new rythm of life you are seeking. All the best and may we meet again.

Next stop is Nong Khiew. We stay here for a few days and relax. It’s a small village along the main road, either side of a long concrete bridge. There is great food and drink here: Steamed bamboo and fish in banana leaf, TomYam Lao soup and Lap (minced meat with plenty of fresh herbs served with sticky lice) make for a taste sensation and a couple of glasses LaoLao (potent rice schnapps / rocket fuel) deliver a hangover of note!

One night after dinner we’re talking to a local lad by the fire outside the restaurant, practicing his English and him teaching us how to count in Lao. Suddenly there’s a bit of commotion and he tells us that there’s been an accident on the bridge, so we go there to see if we can help out. I was expecting some gashes or scrapes which we might be able to treat with the medikit I brought along. However when we get there it’s tad more serious.

Two guys must have been flying along on their scooter and baled. The scene is hair-raising: the one chap lying on the kerb, grunting in pain, the other on the street, seemingly lifeless except for a shallow breathing, his scalp parted like a well-creamed hair style – not most confidence-inspiring sight when you’re soon about to be biking long distance yourself! Lucky for them there are three American chaps there – doctors I guess – who seem to know what they’re doing, latex gloves and the lot. We help them keep the spectators out of the way, stabilize the bodies and lift them on to a truck to get them rushed off to “the Clinic” (there is no hospital in this town). Last I hear a day later from the young chap at the local restaurant is that they both survived, “nobody die”.

There’s a little cafe called Delias where Ebru meets some interesting folk from Oz and Ireland and helps them build a stone oven! Result of a spontaneous decision made that morning when the right people happened to be present and the owner mentioned how fed up he was not to be able to get decent bread in the area. Sadly no photos of Ebru in action as I was busy elsewhere.

On the final night we go for a walk aroud town after dinner looking for a nice place to settle in for a sundowner. Just about everything is closed but as we walk past a side street we hear the thumping of loud music which seems unbelievable. We follow it and find what we’d have least expected: a real shabby little nightclub where it seems every local in town and neighbouring towns has come for a piece of the action. We can’t account for one western face but we go in anyway and order a beer. The place is heaving and the music is blaring – not just Lao tunes but western club music and even Nirvana! Everyone’s drinking and jumping around, the young girls are kitted up to the eyeballs – high heels, tight minis and T-shirts, hair mousse and make up. And there’s lady-boys galore! Well I love it, this is great – what a jewel!

Fortunately, my responsible other reigns me and shields me from the terrifying dangers of having another drink there, so we call it a night and hit the sack.

Recommendations:
– Bathe at the hot springs in Vieng Thong. Especially after a day’s biking!
– Eat whatever you can in Nong Kiew!
– Try the LaoLao with mint at Sabai Sabai restaurant. Also they have a steam sauna and massage, but we didn’t try.
– Party at the local nightclub!