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PROLOGUE:
Newark - Amsterdam
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I spent my last night before reaching Laos in Chiang Khong, Thailand, a one street village bustling with merchants and smugglers. It was the Thai New Year, and everyone was drinking beer dipped with ladles out of plastic buckets while watching the regatta. Also, everyone was throwing water at each other. Seeing my doubtful expression, the Thai revellers only gave me light spritzes. |
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I slept terribly, because of the expectation and the jet lag. I watched the sun rise over the mighty Mekong river. I could hear strident talk on loudspeakers from the Lao side. Never having set foot in a communist country, I was a little apprehensive. I would learn later that the voice provides the daily news and weather. |
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The crossing between Thailand and Laos is quite informal, a matter of minutes in an old wooden boat for a few cents. If your visa is in order, you get in without a hitch. My courteous guide was expecting me on the pier. |
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We spent but a minute in Huai Xai, a village seemingly overrun with pigs, goats and chickens. After a short ride and a walk down a steep embankment, I was handled a life jacket and a motorcycle helmet for the five hour ride in a speedboat. Imagine whizzing by the most beautiful landscape on a mad aquatic lawnmower. The wind was so strong I couldn't feel my arms burning under the sun. There were quite a few speedboats going in both directions, and bigger slow boats too. I took this photo at a local ID control. |
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We stopped in a minority Hmong village where people live very primitively. The children were covered with dust and playing with the animals. I didn't take photos there, not wishing to intrude upon the inhabitants' dignity. Next stop was lunch in Pakbeng: transparent noodles with small bites of pork, and a coke. I encountered for the first time a quaint and popular Lao device, a sort of toilet paper holder for the dining room table which also holds toothpicks. Before returning to the speedboat, I enjoyed the million dollar view from the open air "restroom." |
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The last stop before Luang Prabang was the famed PakOu cave, where you can see thousands of effigies of the Buddha, some life size, some tiny. This cave used to be a major shrine. Now it is a historical destination for pilgrims. You buy a ticket from a government worker, not from a monk. I declined the next stop, at the ominous sounding Whisky Village, because I couldn't wait to see Luang Prabang. |
