Sunday 24th February
I was up about 06.30 and grabbed breakfast at the guesthouse, the only one there to enjoy the sunrise over the Mekong. The Laos side of the river was maybe a hundred metres or so away, and I knew it wouldn't take long to make the trip over on the boat. The only thing that would hold me back was any sort of bureaucracy or queues at this very popular border crossing. The border opens at 08.00 and the Thai immigration office is only 500m from the guesthouse, but I headed there at 07.30 in order to try and stay ahead of any crowds that might have been heading in the same direction.
While waiting at the Thai immigration office, I met an English girl called Nicola who was also heading in the same direction as me, to the Laos town of Luang Nam Tha, about 160km inside the Thai-Laos border. It took all of thirty seconds to have our departure forms processed and we boarded a boat across the Mekong to the town of Huay Xai. It was all very informal, and there was no discernible difference between the two sides of the river; there was a distinct lack of border cops, with only one policeman sitting at a fold-up table constituting the entire body of protection of the Laos border.
Nonetheless, the Laos immigration officials were very friendly. We were the first people to arrive in Laos that morning. We filled out the necessary forms, paid $35 for a standard 30-day visa and were on our way after about a twenty minute wait. Nicola had bought an organised tour of Laos and mentioned that a minivan was due to pick her up at Huay Xai and take her direct to Luang Nam Tha. This sounded convenient to me, and I was glad to hear that there was a free space on the van when the guy from the travel agency arrived.
The trip from Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha took just over three hours on a newly completed road. I was curious (and, admittedly, slightly apprehensive) as to what the road would be like, having heard varying reports on the status of its development. The 2006 edition of the Lonely Planet mentioned an 8-10 hour nightmare journey across bumpy roads, while reports on the internet said it was almost completely new. In the event, I was happy to see that the road was very smooth, if a little windy in parts, and it turned out to be a pretty comfortable journey.
As we passed through the Laos countryside, I was keen to try and see if there were any real differences between here and Thailand, having failed to come across any at the border. The most obvious one was that they drive on the right-hand side of the road here, most likely a hang over from the time when Laos was a French colony (all of the other countries that I have visited in Asia so far drive on the left-hand side of the road, probably due to the British influence).
The other noticeable difference was that, while the road was new and modern, the little villages through which we passed were far less developed than in Thailand. In fact, they seemed to be from another age, with settlements made up of mainly bamboo and wooden huts, with children and farm animals free to roam as they wished, with only a few cars and trucks giving any real suggestion of modern living. Even in larger towns of a couple of hundred people, buildings are much less advanced than in Laos' neighbouring country. However, the place is perfectly clean and has a lot of character, and you get a sense that you are witnessing life as it was lived years ago.
We got to Luang Nam Tha and I checked into another Lonely Planet recommended guesthouse, the 'Pheng Thavy'. It turned out to be perfectly fine but, once again, it failed to meet the glowing review given in the book. A lot of the time it's good to use it as a convenient way to find decent accommodation, but it often doesn't guarantee the best value place. I had some food, a very good curry in an Indian restaurant (the 'LP' review actually remaining true to its claim), and then set off in search of some information on trekking in the area.
The most popular company to provide treks is 'Green Discovery', and they offered two to seven day treks in the government-protected area, which has been created with the aim of ensuring that the habitats and way of life of the various hilltribes that populate the area are protected for prosterity, while, at the same time, allowing tourists the chance to see this region up close.
The staff at 'Green Discovery' were very helpful ad provided a lot of information, and I finally decided on a 3 day/2 night trek which went under the name 'The Akha Trail' (a difficult level trek that passed along the trail used by the Akha tribe themselves, permitting us to stay at Akha villages and trek in the surrounding areas).
There's not much to do in Luang Nam Tha, so after another curry – I was keen to make the most of this opportunity for a bit of variety – I went back to the guesthouse and chatted to some of the other guests, a couple from Aruba in the Carribean and two Israeli guys, and that was good fun. My first impressions of Laos were very good: it was significantly different from all the other parts of SE Asia that I had visited, it seemed to be quieter and calmer and had a lot of character. So, I went to bed happy that the journey there had been a smooth one, and the prospects for a good stay in Laos were looking good.
