We left Chiang Rai, heading for the Laos border, with a slight feeling of intrepidation for a country which we knew very little about. A few hours later we arrived at the Thai border town of Chiang Khong, our first local bus journey being bumpy but effective (in that we arrived where we wanted to be!). The Thai-Laos border is marked by the mighty Mekong river and it seemed we had to cross it in order to get to Laos. As soon as we got off the bus, we found ourselves spirited into a tuk-tuk with some other travellers, and deposited at Thai immigration on the banks of the river. After being stamped out of Thailand, we were directed to a precarious-looking long-tailed (read thin and wobbly) wooden boat. We boarded with a mixture of other people and were whisked across the Mekong, all the while wondering if our rucksacks, sat at the front of the boat, were about to fall overboard.
We landed at Huay Xai in Laos, and confusion reigned as no-one really knew what to do to get into Laos. Eventually, we found some immigration forms in a wicker basket and filled them in. This appeared to be the right thing to do, as a while later two eyes called our names from behind the dark glass, we paid our $35 dollars, and we were in!
Our first night in Laos was spent watching a spectacular sunset over the Mekong from our guesthouse balcony, with a couple of cans of Beerlao (an institution in this country!). Huay Xai was a dusty, one-street town and we were happy to head out the next day.
After trying unsuccessfully to find the bus station, we were told by a wily tuk-tuk driver that it was 8km out of town. So we negotiated a fare, jumped in and arrived at a patch of dust with two ancient-looking buses parked on it.
(J.H: Sarah now does all the negotiating on prices because it was quite apparent in Bangkok that I haggle perhaps a little too hard.....numerous tuk-tuk drivers just drove off as the price I was offering was too low and I wouldn't budge! In my defense, this was a necessary strategy in India, and I thought SE Asia would be the same. Haggling over here is a very different game, it is important to smile a lot and appreciate that the Thais and Laos are not starting the haggling process at the ridiculous levels of our friends in India).
We decided to head into Northern Laos, as we had heard there was good trekking to be had in pristine forests, so we got a bus to Luang Nam Tha. Another very bumpy bus journey ensued, we sat at the back as that was where the only seats were. Beside John was a huge electrical transformer roped to the seat, and the aisle was filled with huge bags of rice. Our rucksacks were tied to the roof, and that's where we hoped they would remain! We were slightly alarmed when one of the bus staff (on Laos bus journeys, it is required that you have at least 3 members of staff, sleeping in different areas of the bus at any one time) started giving out numerous sick bags to people, and we wondered for a while whether Laos people are really bad travellers and everyone was about to start being simultaneously sick! Fortunately, this did not happen so our journey was actually quite pleasant, albeit bumpy and dusty.
Luang Nam Tha was not the prettiest town but we found a pleasant guesthouse and a nice restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, that night John's hatred of Laos chickens began.......(J.H: Whilst I fully appreciate that it is a rooster's right to crow at dawn, I see no reason why that chicken would start practising 2 hours before it gets light! The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the chicken appeared to be on the windowsill outside our room....therefore we moved guesthouses the next day).
