Laotian Odyssey

After 3 weeks in Thailand, the time had come to pack up ouir old kit bags and traverse across the wilderness into Laos. Ok so the border crossing isn't 'wilderness' but it was mildly hectic. I suggested that we leave early at about 7 or 8 am so as to have plenty of time to get to the border and get our visas processed, bad idea. My travel companion does not do anything quickly and prefers a sedentiary pace of life. So early turned in to a casual breakfast before meandering along to the bus station. As it was already 9am, we were not able to get a bus ticket to Chiang Rai earlier than 11.30. The bus I would describe as a pre-war vehicle and must have had no shock absorbers. Thus we spent a painful 4 hrs bouncing around on our seats as the poor bus struggled to do 50km/hr up hills. 

After this journey we were in no mood to do the next leg to the border town of Chiang Khong, but we figured it was our duty as backpackers to endure a certain amount of pain and the thought of dragging out the journey when our destination was only (according to the bus company) 2.5hrs away. There was a bus leaving right away but we decided on the next one in favour of getting some lunch. This also turned out to be a bad idea. That first bus was relatively ok in terms of looks, the next was not. The one we took was overcrowed and they just kept packing them in! David appeared none to excited to have to sit on the floor in between seats for half the journey. However, much to our surprise, this journey (although round about, a straight route would have been an hour) was not unbearable. As more people got off, we were able to move seats and get some room and it is amazing how much easier a long journey is with a cool breeze rather than circulated airconditioning. Along the way, the sun set over the inumerable rice paddys and gentle mountains. I have never seen more of an amazing sight in the mix of burnt orange and brilliant green in my life.

We stayed that night in Chiang Khong and I will say that eating dinner was an experience in and of itself. We were seated outside on beautiful teak furniture and surrounded by tropical gardens with bright garden lights that were reflected on the vastness of the Mekong.  

We were up at 7am the next morning (David had now gotten the idea that I dislike dawdling) and through a protracted and thoroughly un-official manner we managed to get our lao visas. Next was our slow boat journey. This consisted of a 6hr slow chugg up the Mekong to Pakbeng in Laos, an overnight stop in a sort of nothing town and a further 9hr journey the next day to Luang Prabang. Contrary to popular opinion (i.e. lonely planet and various blogs) we didn't need a pillow as both boats were quite comfortable if not a little cramped in the case of the second journey. 

Finally after an epic 3 day odyssey we arrived in the quite charming French colonial town of Luang Prabang. I have discovered as a result of this quest that I like cafes immensely and I dislike having the same introductory conversations over and over again with other backpackers (this discovery resulted from having to make small talk with the others crammed in to our slow boat, most of whom we would never see again). Actually I am in two minds about this dislike. Is it better to enrich my backpacking social life with friends that I may only see for two days and never see again? Or should I save myself the agony of telling 200 vacuous people that I am Australian, I study psychology, I have traveled to many places blah blah...? I have to admit that I am too old to enjoy getting smashed for no reason (not that I ever did), in which case other backpackers are useful, and I will also say that I always did prefer to travel alone. Thoughts?