Mixed Bag

Leaving Pai was always going to be difficult. The place really felt like home, away from home, for the few days I was there. Still though, it is good to leave a place while the going is good, so I feel like I got out at the right time.

Following a day long delay in Pai, it was time to make the 7 1/2 hour bus journey to Chiang Khong. Thankfully, the driver wasn't in too much of a hurry, which meant the journey was very comfortable. The only drawback of this journey, was that it was dark for pretty much all of it, so it was difficult to take in the beauty of the Thai countryside. In the grand scheme of life, that is a fairly small problem.

After about 5 hours on the road, I noticed, from the sounds of the tyres on the tarmac, that it had been raining. This was the first drop of rain I had encountered since landing in Bangkok, almost three weeks previously. All of a sudden, we were smack, bang in the middle of this crazy, tropical storm. The rain was heavier than anything I had ever seen, there were branches of trees all over the road, as well as a few fallen trees. I have to hand it to the driver, he really took it in his stride, considering the conditions. You could easily sense the anxiety from everyone else on the minibus. The lightening was a bright white and it lit up the surroundings, very brightly. The silhouette of the trees and mountains was pretty spectacular, as was the sight of thousands of frogs leaping all over the road - probably out of joy, at the presence of water.

After a short sleep in Chiang Khong, it was time to cross the Laos border. As border crossings go, this was pretty stressful. The officials coordinating my crossing were grossly incompetent and were trying everything to make a few quid off everyone in our group. When I eventually got to the border, it was like a cattle mart, trying to organise and pay for the visa. Maybe it was my lack of sleep, maybe it was the feeling of being ripped off, or possibly, a combination of the two, but I had a sour taste in my mouth as my initial impression of Laos. I wasn't alone in having this opinion.

A slow boat down the Mekong River is as good a way as any, for Laos to show itself off as a country. An old, rickety boat was my home for the next 10 hours or so. The Mekong twists and turns for quite a stretch. Each twist and turn reveals an even more authentically, primitive culture than their close neighbour, Thailand. Tribal villages were nestled on the side of hills all along the river. The river was pretty low in water, as it is the dry season. The tribal villages are built at an elevation, maybe 40 or 50 feet above where we were cruising. They are built so high to account for how high the water rises when the rainy season starts. It was staggering to see how high the water marks go, all along the banks of the river. I can only imagine the volume of rain that falls during the wet season. If it was my parents house at home, it would be underwater for part of the year!

I keep having so many wonderful experiences and meeting so many truly amazing people, that I think this trip can't possibly get any better. Surprisingly, it does and here I am again, overwhelmed at the whole thing. I still don't know what to make of Laos though. It is very beautiful, the people, for the most part, are friendly - though nowhere near as friendly as the people in Thailand. For me, there is something missing from this place, but I can't put a finger on it.

Having an early morning coffee in Utopia Bar in Luang Prabang, I realised what it is that makes Laos so different, for me anyway. Utopia Bar is this very beautiful, tranquil bar, with all sorts of plants and flowers growing in it. There is two decks overlooking the Nam Khan river, a tributary of the massive Mekong River. This bar is full of tourists, except a few local staff. As I sat there, sipping my coffee, relaxing and taking in my beautiful surroundings, I could see many local fishermen going about their work, casting nets and bringing them in again. It looked like back breaking work. It struck me then, that those guys below me, in the river, couldn't afford to buy a drink in the bar I was in, if they put all their weeks wages together. The divide between rich and poor is very obvious here, and most people haven't got two pennies to rub together. All they have is the smile on their face. Laos is an extremely poor country. You rarely see old people here and a local that I spoke to, told me it is because a person usually dies when they get sick.

Now I could understand, a bit better, people's desperation to earn money. They see it as their ticket to a better future - maybe not for them, but for a loved one. Family is a very important concept here and having spoken to that local, I now have a much greater appreciation of Laos, and the struggles of its people.