Rats, bats and slowmobiles
Trip Start
Apr 12, 2005
1
14
104
Trip End
??? ??, 2006
Louang Prabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Anyway, whilst still in Chiang Mai I did a day-trip to the Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Thailand, Burma(Myanmar) and Laos meet. It was named the Golden Triangle because there is an island in the Mekong here where the countries used to trade opium, the currency being gold. We met the Akha tribe where Cheryl and I bought matching head-dresses, and the long-necked Karen tribe where the women start putting golden rings on their necks as children. The ring is actually one length of heavy golden metal, as they get older another length is added, gradually stretching the neck so that the rings are actually needed for support
'I'm a snakey in a bottle baby..."
. It's thought that the tradition would die out if there was no tourist interest to keep it going so it's quite sad to think that you're guilty of perpetuating the pain that they endure. Then again it's their choice to make a living that way so it's a double-edged sword.As you can see I changed my mind again and decided to come to Laos with Peter and Aoife. We left Chiang Mai to drive to Chiang Khong on the Thai border, staying overnight in basic huts, the evening's entertainment in the bar provided by a huge gecko that ate first a bat then a cockroach - nice to know the food chain is alive and kicking. In the morning we set off for the boat across the Mekong into Laos, then onto the slow-boat to take us down the river to Pakbeng. We had about forty people on the boat, on hard wooden seats that made your arse ache after only an hour, so there was much fidgeting to try to improve the comfort levels. Some of us even tried sleeping on the floor (I used my book and scarf as a pillow) but the best thing was to sit on the edge of the boat with your legs over the side, occasionally sticking a toe in the water and inadvertently splashing anyone behind you.
That night was spent in Pakbeng, where the electric is only on from 6pm to 9pm, possibly to hide the presence of rats, cats and various creepy-crawlies that were reported the next morning
Honorary tribeswomen
. We were staying at the Bunmy Guest House, I woke to find droppings on the spare bed and wondered what I might find under my clothes and towel so I moved everything rather gingerly and packed asap. We also had a cracking storm that night, major downpours and lightening, rain came pouring through the roof of the terrace we were sitting on so we decamped to the Indian restaurant down the road.Next day we all tramped back down to the river for round two of the arse versus boat saga, only to find that this time we had a different boat with skinny little cushions on the seats! We all managed to get relatively comfy till after a few hours in when the boat stopped and filled up with so many passengers and luggage that the water level rose dangerously high and the comfort level fell accordingly. Luckily they all got off further down the river, and just after that we started breaking down at such regular intervals that we seriously thought a night on the river might be on the cards. The other thing that unsettled us was Andy spotting a dead body floating in the river, face down and bloated - have to say it was pretty quiet for quite a while after that...
We reached Louang Prabang by tea-time and found a lovely guest house close to the river called the Silichit, polished wooden floors, comfy bed, clean en-suite bathroom - pity the fan's not so good so I have to walk round starkers to stay cool enough (sorry for any imagery that may conjure up, especially if you're reading this over breakfast). Yesterday it was back to being so hot that the sweat was just oozing from my pores, even at night when it cools down a little - we were sitting in the late bar at Hong's comparing notes on areas and degrees of sweat collection - nice.....
So I reckon it's just a flying visit to Laos, I'm back to thinking I need to get south and away asap, quick stop in Cambodia then off to Singapore, I may even forsake Sumatra as it's even closer to the Equator and I may just die of heat exhaustion. Roll on Cairns!
