Huay Xai - crossing over to Laos

Trip Start Nov 21, 2007
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Trip End Oct 01, 2008


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Where I stayed
Arimid Guesthouse
(Huay Xai hotels)

Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

We left Chaing Mai and drove for about 6 hours. We stopped at a random rest place called Cabbages and Condoms (such a strange name you had to write it in the blog!) where we had some lovely watermelon ice tea. WJ, you would have approved! Then, we made another quick stop at a cashew factory that had every flavor known to man...Thai Soup, bitter chocolate, garlic, coconut, sesame, curry, roasted, natural..just to name a few. They also had some wonderful coconut treats that Layton absolutely fell in love with. So, you could say we stocked up on our snacks for the 2 day boat ride ahead. Our lunch stop was interesting. We stopped at a Wat Rong Khun close to Chaing Rai. This wat is the white one in the pictures with the hands, demon looking statues and lots of other interesting pieces. A famous Thai artist has saved up enough money to build this wat to honor the Thai King and it is very important to the Thai people.


When we got to Chiang Khong (means "City on the Mekong"), we had to get stamped out of Thailand and take a boat ride over to river to the Laos border to Huay Xai reaching for "more"
reaching for "more"
 . We filled out paper work in the blazing sun, gave them money and our passports and wallah...a 30 day visa from Laos! (if they were only all that easy!?) We also changed money into kip (the Laos currency)...let's just say that $100 is about 1 million kip! So hard to do the conversion sometimes!


We stayed in the Arimid Guesthouse full of small bungalows. We found out quickly that this was the beginning of their Songkran festival! UGH! We thought we were done with soaking clothes. Some of our group wanted to go participate in the water fight, but Layton and I just hung back. We had a fun dinner experience at a Laos BBQ restaurant where you cook your own food. They bring you a bucket full of chicken stock, a pot full of burning coals, vegetables, meat of choice, egg and a silver cooking apparatus that fits over the coals. You cook the meat and veggies and make some semblance of a soup too. We were not the best at it but it was a fun way to dine! Our group ended up meeting us at the same restaurant too!
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