LAOS:
VIENTIANE, LUANG PRABANG, and MEKHONG RIVERBOAT to THAILAND
NOVEMBER 1998
Text and Photos Copyright ©2001 Mark E. Halliday
From Cambodia, We went overland across Thailand, and crossed the Mekhong River into Laos at Vientiane.
Laos now offers visas on arrival, saving a week of waiting for paperwork in Bangkok.
Internal
flights in Laos were difficult to arrange.
Fernando blew a fuse when we could not get out the first day.
We were able to fly standby to Luang Prabang the second day.
View of the mountainous Laotian countryside from the airplane.
The high elevation produces a pleasant climate.
Luang
Prabang is the old Laotian capital,
with a beautiful location on the Mekhong River.
There are beautiful temples,
including the famous
Wat For
and Wat Lob
(still under construction).
We hired a truck and guide for the day,
visiting nearby villages to see
weaving
...and
metalworking .......
One man holds the red-hot piece of steel, while three men with sledges hammer it into a blade.
Note
the two cylinders at the left of the picture....
these hand-operated tubes pump air into the forge through underground airways.
A closer look at the tubes show they are casings from 155mm Howitzer shells!
A Hmong village
Think these peppers are hot?
The last stop of the day...
the beautiful Kuangsi Falls
Just a reminder...
We
returned to Luang Prabang and went "boat shopping".
Soon we found a captain to take us 200 miles
up the Mekhong to the crossing point into Thailand.
Then we bought supplies for the trip,
as there might not be much available
at the village where we would stay overnight.
The next problem was to get our gear and "supplies" down to the boat.
Fortunately we found these natives
who were willing to work for peanuts.
The
two-day trip was great for scenery.
However, the constant motor noise, smoke,
kept this cruise at the "one-star" level.
We also regretted the lack of usable toilet.
Rob did the first toilet research,
crawling back towards the filthy compartment with the diesel engine.
He came back covered with grease and stuff,
and said the toilet was a BAAAAD idea!
At least he didn't get any on his longhorn cap!
First stop was this landing at the Pak Ou Grottoes.....
a sacred natural cave
filled with thousand of Buddhas.
Sunset
on the first day.
Pakbeng Landing, at the foot of the village where we spent the night.
Our
"slow" boat broke down the second afternoon.
"Brave Fernando" tries to flag down a ride.
We
later figured the captain was faking the engine problem.
He was cutting our trip short to save money!
He asked us to pay the full price of our "charter",
and bought us passage on another boat,
at local prices, for the final leg.
We
transferred to a "fast" boat,
which is small and cramped but moves at 40 mph!
it was a crazy final hour bouncing over Class 2 rapids,
at sunset, without lifejackets!
We spent our last night in Laos at Huay Sai.
The next morning we crossed the border,
i.e. the Mekhong River, to Chiang Khong, Thailand.
Text and Photos Copyright ©2001 Mark E. Halliday