Who Wants to be a Millionaire
Trip Start
Nov 29, 2005
1
24
77
Trip End
Nov 21, 2006
Luang Prabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Sickle and Hammer
. My next stop was exchanging some of my US dollars. By exchanging 100 of them I was officially a kip millionaire. Each dollar is worth about 10,200 kip, but the thing is, the biggest denominations Lao has is 10,000 and 20,000. Naturally the man at the exchange window hands me a stack of 10,000 kip notes. I felt really rich with a mound like that, but if you went to a bank in the States, gave them five 20s and they handed you 100 singles, well, you'd find that a little unwieldy. I then counted the money and checked each bill because I heard they'll try to shortchange you or give you unusable currency. When I counted, I realized it was short, and in my Western mainframe I thought, this is short by 800, that's a lot. It was only after I opened my mouth that I realized what a massive schmuck I was since I was complaining that I had been shorted by 8 cents. The look on the exchange workers face implied that he agreed with my new conclusion. It was then only a matter of clearing customs, paying the arrival charge and then haggling with a tuk-tuk driver to get into Vientiane, the capital. I had heard Vientiane was a fairly useless city, but planned on spending a night there to chill out before catching an overnight bus to Luang Prabang. I only had to see the city from the tuk-tuk to see that the reputation was well-earned and decided instead to just pass a few hours in the city with all my gear and then hop on a bus that night
Some odd statue
. So after looking at some temples and the massive palace with an enormous sickle and hammer flag draped over the middle I was on my way to the bus terminal, which was basically just a ticket office, some seats and some bus bays.Eleven hours and 300 kilometers later (think about the math on that) I was in Luang Prabang at the nice unsunny hour of 5:30. Since my time in Asia is so limited, the only things I had planned for Lao was Luang Prabang and Vang Vien (a town in between and where I am right now). It's basically just doubling back for 11 hours of bus travel, but when I awoke in the morning and walked around the town, I immediately saw it was worthwhile. The "city" of Luang Prabang is situated on a peninsula, surrounded by the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers. Immediately on the other side of the river bank, is a steady mountain line that disappear off into the haze. It's fantastic scenery and I can only imagine what it looks like after the wet when the rivers are high and flowing and the vegetation on and around the mountains are lush. I guess I'll have to come back some day. The city itself has a wonderful friendly atmosphere to it. The riverfront is dotted by food markets and restaurants and the main street is filled with airy restaurants and cafes. Everybody is friendly and greets you with a smile and a sa-ba-dii. That first day I walked along the riverfront to Wat Xieng Thong, with a couple different temples on its grounds
Sunset over Luang Prabang
. One is fairly plain, but the inside is covered with intricate designs depicting battle and different Buddhist images. Another temple, covered in gold on the top, houses a large golden raft with dragon heads at the end (every Lao temple seemingly has a serpent with several dragon heads at the end of it). I then waited out the midday heat and humidity at a cafe and my $2 guest house before climbing Phu Si for sunset.Phu Si is the hill situated right square in the middle of town with the main business area at its base. You have to climb a long series of steps before getting to a station where they ask you for 10,000 kips, and after paying you turn and see a small sign that says "Still 190 steps to go." Very cheeky. The view from the top is well worth it though. There's a small temple on the top with a golden chedi (thus the admission charge), and everywhere you're eye level with the mountains which looked even more serene in the haze at dusk (and the smoke in the air -- with the wet starting soon, the farmers are in the burn part of slash and burn). The sunset wasn't all that great, but the views were good enough.
The next morning I put my hair "style" in the hands of a Lao barber. For one thing, it's nice to see that even Lao adheres to the unwritten law that no barber can himself have a full head of hair
The barbershop
. I wasn't sure what to expect from a place that was basically just a room with only three walls and a cut that cost $2, but I suppose if you wind up with a creative cut, you get what you pay for. I wound up with a jovial barber who upon producing the clippers said "Same same" repeatedly (the Lao expression of choice, as in same thing, but not really) before I said, yeah sure, and let him go to work. I haven't drawn any laughs or stares or felt the need to wear a hat, so I guess things turned out all right.My big event for the day was a trip to Kuang-Si Falls, 29 km outside Luang Prabang. I took a minivan organized trip for $3 with a company that does everything in its power to maximize its profit margin on the trips. I wound up in a seat with so little legroom it would make a chihuahua squirm. We then drove 40 minutes along dusty roads, our driver honking the horn every 30 seconds as if he thought it might never work again if he didn't keep it fresh and myself wondering if I would ever again have feeling in my legs. After getting dropped off at the falls I walked along a path that opened up to a large bear sanctuary. The ironic part was right in front of the fence was a sign announcing that they were there courtesy of the Free the Bears Fund. Just after the bears was a tiger. It's the closest I've ever been to one and they are beautiful animals. After seeing how fast it could run when one of the Lao ladies came by with a bucket of buffalo meat, though, made me alter my opinion of whether I would like to see one in the wild or not
Kuang-Si pools
. From there it was on the falls. The Falls are multi-tiered with limestone formations and relaxing swimming pools building up along the way. The water is a hazy light blue that I've never seen before, like something you'd see in a fantasy movie. You slowly work your way up several tiers before getting to the main sight, a huge powerful stream of water that pours over large, oddly shaped limestone caves. I was walking with a Canadian girl, Sarah, who lives not too far from Niagara, and we were still both very impressed. We then ventured to climb up the falls (from the side, not literally under them), not an easy task in flip-flops. We then had to cross the falls, but at the top it's little more than a stream. It's only then, when you're eye level with the mountain tops, that you realize just how high up you are. Thankfully, the other side of the falls had a staircase so we could more quickly and easily get down for a well-deserved swim in the freezing cold pools (a Swiss girl Claudia I had met the day before had warned me, and the Swiss are a fairly good authority on cold). During the swim I started chatting to Gordon and Lucy an English couple (actually, Gordon is Welsh) who have been my company for the last few days. That night I went out to dinner with them at a restaurant where one of the waiter's answers to any and all questions was "yes" and another's response to a question about the food was, "I don't know the menu, I just work here." After dinner I sat on my balcony, looking at the Mekong and sipping Laobeer (good, but way too smooth) with a couple people from the guesthouse
Modeling that $2 cut
. One of them, Danny, was an Irish guy who now lives in Thailand and has the most incredible stories I've ever heard. I feel like I've done a decent amount in my day, but I probably don't have a single story that would crack his top 100. Not until I have a contract put out on my life in Nigeria anyway. It was Danny who explained to me also, why they don't check you for drugs at the Thai border even though signs everywhere warn how illegal it is and how unpleasant it would be for you if you should be caught. Apparently, the Thais assume no one would be that stupid. Not because the threat of a life in dingy prisons would set someone straight. Oh no. It's just that the Lao stuff is much cheaper and much better, so who would be silly enough to waste their time with Thai grass in Lao?The next morning I was set to take the bus to Vang Vien. I was picked up with Lucy and Gordon by the same tuk-tuk since we booked our tickets at the same time. At one point on the ride the tuk-tuk stopped at a major intersection and the driver turned around and started gesturing furiously to me and Gordon. After 30 seconds we realized he needed us to get out and push the damn thing to get it moving again. Throw that one down as another picture I'll never have that I would have loved to see. After finally making the bus I got to see in daylight why the bus journey averages out to 30 km per hour. The whole drive is through stunning mountain roads, stunning for both the beauty and its ungodly windiness. One sign warning of an impending curve wasn't your standard squiggle, but in the shape of a "z." I spent the whole seven hours staring out the window looking at the mountains and tiny villages we passed. Lucy spent a good chunk of it trying not to get thrown up on by a strange Lao woman that sat next to her and kept her baby on her back the whole ride.
And now I'm in Vang Vien with its dusty unpaved roads and awesome views of the river. But more on that later.
