Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang

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  Chiang khong, Thailand
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

  Mon. Aug 11th
                This morning me and Aubrey woke up and headed down stairs to wait to get picked up for our slow boat trip to Luang Prabang.  The bus is supposed to pick us up at 9:00am but its 8:55am and I'm starving.  So I order food regardless, thinking everything runs 30 minutes late anyways.  My food comes, 2 eggs on top of rice and I'm loving every bite.  Sure enough the bus arrives at 9:25 (wow 5 minutes early).   But what pulls up in front is anything but a bus; it's a van.  Aubrey and I get the best seats in the van, all the way in the back, crammed next to all the luggage (I will later have killed for this van).  The van holds 13 people, uncomfortably, but has air-conditioning.  Anyways, I'm informed that we will not be leaving on boat today.  We are staying the night in Chiang Khong where a guest house has already been booked and paid for.  The plan is to wake up early the next morning and catch a ferry boat across the Mekong River into Laos, get visas and then hop on a slow boat from there

hell bus

.  So with everything taken care of and paid for I was happy.  We eventually arrived at our destination 2 hours late (that's actually not bad what I know now) and the receptionist walks out to greet everyone.  She says hello and for everyone to come and put there bags down, check in and get their key.  What she should have said was "hello and welcome to hell".  This was the sketchiest place I've ever seen.  If this place was listed in my Lonely Planet book, which I use for every city (thank you mom and dad for buying it for me) it would go something like this....This is the perfect place for someone who wants to go somewhere and die!  This lovely guest house with paint chips falling off your half painted walls mixed with mold growing pretty much everywhere and a pad lock to lock your door is an ideal establishment to get away and catch some type of disease or illness.   There's no need to worry about bringing any bug spray because the ants, spiders, mosquitoes or any other insect except for your cockroaches don't want any part of this place either.  Be careful when opening and closing your paper thin, warped door that if you sneeze too hard it will fall off its one rusty hinge its on.   The rooms do come with a fan that works great if the only reason for it is to make loud noises and not circulate the air at all.  The staff is friendly and if you look close you can see their horns poking through their hair.  If you do make it through the night, alive, then you are rewarded with a t-shirt saying "congratulations, you survived hell"

new river, everyone thinking what to do

.  Anyways, after putting our stuff away I headed straight to 1 of the 3 bars that were open.  I needed a drink or 10 if I was going to be able to sleep on my mattress that felt like it was manufactured out of cement.  Anyways, I get to the bar and everyone who was staying the night at our guest house was there too, and they all had the same idea.....get drunk.  Although this was the sketchiest places I've ever seen (a jail cell would have been nicer), it was right on the Mekong River with a great view of Laos on the other side.  I did end up asking how much this lovely place would have cost and it came out to be 79 cents American.

Tues Aug 12
                Hey, I'm alive!!!!  I made it through the night, but Aubrey didn't....a moment of silence...aw who cares, where's my shirt? Haha jk.  So we packed our stuff up and got ready to leave Thailand. There was an exit fee that came out to be 5 cents American.  Anyways, we pilled into a longboat and boated to Bokeo, Laos.  We were getting close, and I can see a sign for the duty free store, but the store is half in the river.  We bring our boat up to what looks like a street and we port, if that's what you want to call it, literally next to a house.  We use the wall of the house to get off the boat and from keep getting wet (this house was also half in the river).  We walk up to 2 military guys sitting in the middle of the road on plastic chairs with a table that looked like something you would use for tv dinners.  They ask for our passports and we hand them over.  They ask for $35 American and stamp our passports.  This was a 1 of 3 step process that took maybe 5 minutes.  Who would of guessed the communist country knew how to give visas to children like candy on Halloween.  I go to the other 2 stations, and yep, 5 minutes later, I'm out a total of 35 bucks, but I have a Lao visa and at the age of 22 I became an instant millionaire.....WooooHOOO!!!

hell hole

!    That could have been the easiest thing ever.  They don't check bags, no security, just stamp, stamp, stamp, and your on your way.  After our visas were done we headed to a restaurant that was near our slow boat because our guide told us to wait there.  The guide who was helping everyone, gathered the group together for a proposition.  He said that since the river is flooded the boat driver is going to have to drive slower due to debris floating, underwater trees he can't see, ect.  The boat was going to travel for a couple of hours and then port at another border city for the night then leave the next morning to finish the trip.  Or if anyone wanted to, a second option had arisen.  The new option was to get tuk tuked to a bus station where an air conditioned bus will be waiting and it was going to be all paid for.  The bus ride was going to be a total of 11 hours instead of the boat trip which was going to be 2 full days.  Since me and Aubrey were on a time crunch I suggested we should go because we will gain a day.  So we, along with 8 others, hop on a tuk tuk and go to the bus station.  We arrive at our station and there's a bus this time instead of a van, but there's no way this bus could be our bus.  It looked like something that someone pulled out of the Mekong River.  After asking around, sure enough, that was it.  It had no air conditioning, just open windows, seats that a 7 year old would have a hard time getting comfortable in because the seats   are about a 2 feet from each other, hard as a rock and don't recline

van ride to hell hole

.  We were told the bus was going to leave at 11:30, but when we arrived at the station it wasn't scheduled to leave till 1:00pm.  It was a lil upsetting but it didn't surprise me. The bus actually didn't pull out of the station till 1:30, still doesn't surprise me.  So we are on the road and everyone is just happy to be moving. But it gets better.  The bus drives seriously across the street to........get gas???....now that's surprising.  The bus has been sitting there for probably 3 hours and no one thought to fill it up with gas first.  So we pull into the gas station, fill up, then, hurray!!! We're on our way again.  Now everyone is happy we are moving.  So we are driving along for about 5 minutes and Wait, one more stop, what is it this time?  I couldn't believe my eyes but we pulled into another gas station.  So we are sitting in this gas station for about 15-20 minutes before we finally pull out.  It's now 2:30pm and we have maybe traveled 2 miles.  We finally pull out, everyone cross your fingers and pray that this time is the real thing.  Sure enough it was.  We drive through the country side which is nothing but beautiful.  I love traveling this way.  You get to see things that you normally wouldn't be able to see and I love that.  Kinda like our family road trip to Chicago, Louisiana and back home.  The only difference is me and the Lao people have a common interest, not waking up at the crack of dawn....hahaha, that was for you dad.  Anyways we pass by all these little tribes living in bamboo huts along the side of the road

view from hell hole, mekong and Laos view

.  Kids play in the streets, and people shower using hollowed out bamboo channeled to the river which provides the water.  We dive through a bunch of land slides but nothing to bad where it would delay us severely.  There was only one bad land slide where they had to move giant boulders out of the road and took 10 minutes to do.  But we are hauling through all the dirt and mud in the middle of the road pretty easy.  We passed through easy 15 land slides.  Some were bad enough an entire lane of the road was at the bottom of the mountain.  But that doesn't slow down the bus driver.  That's why he uses his horn to wheel around these one lane, blind curves, to let on-coming traffic know he's coming and he's not slowing down either.      After driving for about 11 hours now, its 1:30am, and we make our 3rd stop to get food and use the toilet.  You can't ask wheres the "bathroom" or "restroom" because they don't understand that....only toilet.  So its 1:30am and I ask the driver how much longer we have.  He says we have about 2 more hours to go.  2 hours go by and there's no sign of city life anywhere and I'm getting pretty tired.  I'm in and out of sleep....there hasn't been paved roads now for an hour.  Its 4:30am and the bus stops again.  I'm too tired to care what's going on, I figured it was just another land slide that we will pass through in no time.

Wed Aug 13
                I wake up at around 8:00am and we are still parked in the exact same place we stopped at last night at 4:30am

view from hell hole

.  I can see traffic is backed up for at least half a mile.  I also see people walking towards and back from whatever is causing the delay....their faces dont look positive.  After 15 minutes go by and I'm just scratching my head trying to figure what's going on, I decide to go check it out.  As I'm walking, I see all these Lao people barbequing, eating breakfast, set up camp and think to myself that can't be a good sign.  I finally see what's causing the traffic jam.  There is a newly acquired river running straight through the only road to Luang Prabang.  After asking someone how long the wait is going to be, I got laughed at and he said to me that it's going to be a while.  They had this one large contraption.  It was used to transport small vehicles to the other side.  It was like 2 draw bridges put together on each side of this floating transporting thing.  When it got close enough to the road, it dropped one of the bridge things, where 1 vehicle at a time could drive up and then get dropped off on the other side.  It took about 10 minutes for me to watch this before I had enough.  I walked back to the bus to let everyone know.  I guess this was our stop.  Me and the 6 others grab our bags and start walking to the river to try and find a way across.  The only way across was by paying a boat to take us.....tuk tuk by water.  The boats are very small and can only hold 3 people at a time.  After negotiating an agreed price we were on the other side.  Now we had to negotiate with an actual tuk tuk driver.....they knew what was going on and where lined on the other side of the river to take tourists to Luang Prabang....for a price

door that almost fell off its hinges

.  Since we had a total of 8 people it wasn't too expensive.  Now for our last stretch to Luang Probang.  We all get dropped off at the same guest house and go from there.  Its now 10:45am and our what was supposed to be an 11 hour bus ride turned into a just about 21 hours total.....the trip from hell that never ended.  Now as we are driving to our guest house I see the street is flooded and realize the tuk tuk is only going to be able to drive us to the edge and we are going to have to walk the rest of the way.  Oh great I thought, this keeps getting better and better.  But we catch a break.  The water butts up right against the edge of our guest house which is called Pathoumphone and is perfect....I couldn't have asked for anything better.  The lonely planet described it as "a sweet little guest house that is a well kept secret with serene views that has a sense of calm and simple little rooms.  The best value for the money on the peninsula".....and it really was.  Me and Aubrey had the best room in the place.  Our patio French doors opened up to a stellar view.  We had an assortment of different potted plants placed around our table and chairs and had the Nam Khan River straight ahead 30 feet away.  All this for the price of $7 American dollars which was split between 2 people, making the grand total $3.50 a night.  Most of the group split up and did their own thing but me and Aubrey are becoming friends with 2 Scottish people.  One was named Jack age 19 and the other named Anna age 19 both traveling alone.  After we get checked in everyone wants food.  But the girls want to shower first (all I need is the river).  The girls are taking forever but it's ok because I'm talking to our new receptionist Daeng who could have the chilliest job in the world and is the nicest person I have met so far.  We are sitting outside on the patio furniture just talking.  He's 24 and in his last year in school.  He is a math major and wants to teach high school kids.  I end up asking him where the best grub in town is and what his favorite dish is so I can try it

transportation from Thailand to Laos

.  He gives me directions and the name of his favorite dish which is Koh Soy.  After everyone's done getting ready our crew heads to Daengs suggested eatery.  I look for koh soy but don't see it on the menu.  When our waitress comes to take our order I ask for it anyways, she nods her head and walks away.  She comes back with this huge soup bowl full of food.  I take a bite and huh oh, it's spicier than my Bangkok dish.  My noise is running, I'm crying uncontrollably, I can't feel my tongue, my lips are on fire, and I could only finish ¾ of my dish which only happened because I was pouring water on every bite I took to dilute the spiciness.  After putting on a show for everyone I headed back and needed a nap from the long day before.  I woke up, walked outside, but no one was there; just Daeng stringing away on his guitar.  Aubrey and Anna eventually come back from walking around and asked if I want to go to a ballet with them.....haha, no thanks, I'll pass.  I was happy to hear from them later that the ballet wasn't good, and I saved some money.  Anyways so they leave for the ballet and me and Daeng just chill drinking some Beerlao (Lao's official beer) and play the guitar.  Daeng ended up giving me my first guitar lesson.  After the girls came back we met up with Jack to go to the Lao Lao Garden, a popular bar.  I asked Daeng if he wanted to join but he couldn't because his sister was coming in by train from Vientiane that night and was unable to join.  At the Lao Lao Garden they had a special buy one get one free

welcome sign

.  So we ordered two shots (which really came out to be 4 double shots) of Lao Lao whiskey.  This is the first time I have tried rice whiskey and boy was it strong.  11:30pm rolls around and the bar is closing down because all of Luang Prabang is on a 12:00am curfew.  Supposedly all of Lao is on a 12:00 curfew but they really don't follow the curfew rule.  But in Luang Prabang they do and that's ok because we want to wake up early and see the monks receive their ritualistic morning offerings anyways.
Thursday Aug 14
            We were told yesterday by Daeng that the monks start at 6:00am every morning.  The 4 of us, me, Jack, Anna and Aubrey (and I was not the last one up, because I know that's what your thinking mom and dad) wake up and meet out front our guest house.  We finally leave the guest house a little late (6:10) and arrive on the main road at 6:15 am to find everyone walking back.  It was over and we missed it.  Apparently the monks don't wait for anyone....go figure.  Everyone goes back to sleep but I stay up and decide I'm going to watch the sun rise on top of Phu Si hill which was also suggested to do by Daeng.  It was the best decision I made.  The 300 plus step climb to the top of the hill was worth almost passing out because I haven't had anything to eat yet.  Once you get to the top you could see the Mekong River on one side and the Nam Khan on the other side

should say welcome to flooding

.  You could see all of Luang Prabang and the morning dew that's covering the 52,000 populated city.  This is better than the view at Wat Doi Suthep overlooking all of Chiang Mai.  After an hour of sitting up, watching the sun rise over the city and finding myself, I headed down.  I want to get food but I have 2,000 kip to my name (8,500 kip = 1 USD) because I spent my last 20,000 kip on admission to Phu Si hill (totally worth it).  So I head to an ATM and it doesn't work.  So I go to another and another and they all are broken.  I went to every official bank ATM in the city (there are 3) and all don't work because of the flooding.  Side note: the owner of our guest house said it hasn't flooded this bad in 44 years.  Anyways so I have no choice but to get to a business that charges you a 5% charge of what you pull out.  By the time I get my money, eat and get back to the guest house Aubrey, Anna, and Jack are all up ready to start their day.  I'm ready for a nap.  So I tell them to eat and walk around without me while I sleep.  I wake up a couple of ours later and have a morning chat with Daeng.  I tell him to get his guitar out and play.  He then tells me the story how he acquired his brand new guitar.  I think it's a cool story and that's why I'm sharing it.  A couple of months before we arrived 2 English guys that were staying at our guest house had 3 brand new guitars.  They tried shipping them home but for what ever reason they could only ship 2.  Because Daeng treated them so well and they liked Daeng so much they ended up just giving their brand new guitar to him

bus station with hell bus

.  Anyways, everyone comes back and we all go to see Wat Xieng Thong.  It is Luang Prabrang's  most magnificent temple but I didn't see why it was so special.  The only problem going to see these temples are there is so much history and meaning that you have no idea what its about.  After we finished walking around we head back to our GH.  On the way back I bought some food that was wrapped in a giant palm tree leaf.  I'm expanding what I eat everyday although it might look weird.  But the food I try is almost always delicious.  As the day goes on and the sun is beginning to set everyone wants to go to Phu Si hill and watch the sun set.  So I get to see the sun rise and set in the same day.  The pictures were much better and it was much prettier as the sun was rising.....so hahaha for everyone going back to bed.  After the sun set we went to the night market and walked around.  It was getting late and we were tired.  We wanted to go to bed early so this time we won't miss the monks the next morning.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

inside hell bus	one of the many landslides	cows?	kids riding cows?
i dont know	view from bus	1-view from bus	2-view from bus
view from bus passing a village	the great flood of 2008	traffic	at our GH
river is behind the trees	me	my view from our GH	river water flooding the road
same	GH is behind me	1-same	ah river water
Luang Prabang Museum	museum grounds	another	temple time
the gates	the walk up Phusi Hill	1-the walk up Phusi Hill	my room at our GH
1-my room at our GH	the night market	jack and aub	at the bar
Lao Lao Garden bar	2-same	jack anna aubrey me at Lao Lao Garden	bar pic
lao lao whiskey shot, in preperation	the shot	friends!	another shot of Lao Lao
sun rise at Phusi hill	sun rize	view of river 1	morning fog
more sunrise pics	more pics	river 2, the mekong	proof i was there
temple on top of the hill	getting brighter	more	beautiful
1-beautiful	monestary	monks	more sunrise from Phusi Hill
1-more sunrise from Phusi Hill	more sunrise	a stupa on a hill	1-more pics
lots of pics	snap snap snap	suns out	the mekong side of the hill
mekong	1-mekong	down the stairs	walk to temple on hidden side of Phusi Hill
temple	buddha	more buddha	1-more
dragon snake thing is called naga	naga the protector	inside a cave	cave
1-buddha	buddha for everyday of the week	2-more	3-more
4-more	pictures depicting a story	path of cave	inside cave
random pic	down	5-more	buddhas foot
my foot versus buddha's	3-same	worship	in the middle of the walk up/down Phusi hill
the walk back	circle thing	1-temple	2-temple
3-temple	4-temple	5-temple	boat inside temple
6-temple	boats cargo	boat and naga	2-buddha
3-buddha	6-more	just snapping at everything	door way
temple pics	7-temple	8-temple	9-temple
10-temple	eating food out of a leaf	monks walking	eating lunch on the river
monks rowing	1-monks rowing	best food ever called koy soy	sun set on Phusi hill
close up	sun set	1-sun set	2-sun set
more sun set	the museum night view	1-the night market	on the way to the hell hole should be 1st pic
close up me in the flooding

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