A Night at the Bizarre...

Chiang Rai, Thailand

July 27. 2007
N 19°54.385
E 099°49.830

We headed to the Night Bizarre for dinner last night without our rain jackets. We figured there would be a light sprinkle during our walk, but nothing we couldn’t handle. We ducked under the awnings of businesses along our way, staying pretty dry. As we neared the night market, I told Marc the plan of attack.

“Listen to the plan,” as we dodged cars to get to the entrance of the bizarre, “we walk through, check out all of the food, get a beer and decide what we want to eat.” Our plan turned out flawless, especially when the light sprinkles quickly turned into a torrential downpour. We found a little metal table under the protection of a giant tent, sat down with our beer, dry, and watched as people raced to find shelter.

We only had to run into the rain briefly to order our curry—the best we’ve had so far in Thailand. I ventured out one other time to order another jug of Singha. The rain continued to fall and we continued to sit under the tent, simply enjoying the evening. After three liters of beer and two bowls of curry the rain finally subsided. We took the opportunity to get back to our dry room, ducking under the same awnings on our return.

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After a good night’s sleep and a night at the bizarre our first stop this morning was to pick up our laundry. We figured there was enough sun yesterday to dry all of our items, we were happy to find everything ready for us when we arrived. This meant we could visit a few of the temples today since we now had appropriate attire.

Our first stop was the house of the emerald Buddha, or Wat Phra Kaew. We took our time meandering through the vast complex, stopping to look into a barrel containing fish with a few monks and enjoyed the house of the emerald Buddha. The large complex had so many sites within it we didn’t know which way to turn. After about an hour of wandering around we found an exit and headed down the street in search of lunch.

We strolled through a few more temples before stumbling upon a noodle shop for lunch. The tasty broth, thin slices of medium rare beef, balls of Chiang Rai sausage, bean sprouts and rice noodles was one of the best soups we had in South East Asia (with the exception of two Pho stands in Vietnam). We scooped chilies from the large bowl on the table, added black pepper mixed with chili and a few pickled peppers to form the perfect blend of spice, broth and meat. We slurped the broth, sucked noodles and savored the meat, loving every minute of it.

Who knows what kind of delicious meal tonight will bring…

Easy Days in Chiang Rai...

Chiang Rai, Thailand

July 26, 2007
N 19°54.385
E 099°49.830

Since our arrival in Chiang Rai two days ago we’ve spent some time catching up on some chores, including the blog. We desperately needed to do laundry after two weeks in Laos. We actually had to soak some of Marc’s shirts in vinegar in a desperate attempt to remove the embedded stank. Additionally, rotating shirts, underwear and shorts for two weeks; always attempting to determine which article reeks the least, was becoming very tedious. We finally came to the realization that the ol’ reliable sink wash method was no longer a viable option. Plus, Marc was also in need of a haircut. Boring stuff, yes, but we still need to do it!

We dropped off our laundry in the morning and were advised it might be dry the following morning if it doesn’t rain. (It is officially the rainy season in Thailand and we get a good shower at least once a day, whether we need it or not.) We walked away, hoping for sun and fresh clothes free of stank.

We took the time to walk around Chiang Rai and explore; however, we couldn’t explore the many Wats since Marc’s pants were now at the cleaners—the Wats would have to wait until tomorrow.

The Chiang Rai Province is the northernmost province in Thailand. It borders both the Laos border (where we entered Thailand) and the Myanmar (Burma) border. The town of Chiang Rai itself has a population of around 50,000; however, the municipality still has a small feel to it and is very manageable to see on foot—our favorite way.

The sun stayed out the majority of the day as we wandered the streets with no particular destination. When the rain started coming down in the late afternoon we ducked into a little barber shop where Marc got a haircut and shave (two bits).

With all our chores done we made our way back to our air conditioned (yes, AC baby!) room to relax a bit before heading out to the Night Bizarre for dinner. The relaxed environment around Chiang Rai is comforting, especially after coming from the low-key country of Laos. This will be a nice gradual transition before hitting the bigger cities like Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

Correct Change Required...

Chiang Rai, Thailand

July 24, 2007
N 19°54.385
E 099°49.830

This morning, as we stood on the eastern shore of the Mekong River peering across at our destination, the rain came down at a steady pace and Thailand was just a few hundred meters away. We boarded a long boat and made the 300 meter trip to the other side of the Mekong. It was that simple. Goodbye Laos, hello Thailand.

After getting a fresh stamp in our passport from the Thailand authority (Marc now with only one square to spare), we jumped in a taxi and headed to the bus station. Upon arriving at the bus station we discovered the bus to Chiang Rai left at 10:00 AM, giving us five minutes to make the bus. No problem, right? Well, nothing is ever that easy.

Since we just crossed the border we didn’t have any Thai Baht. We asked the taxi driver if we could pay him in US dollars, but he politely declined and told us there was an ATM at the bus station. I hit the ATM thinking I grabbed at least $300 USD worth of Baht, only to instantly realize my mistake—I only grabbed $30. Oh well, it should be enough to pay the cab driver and get us on the bus to Chiang Rai.

I ran back to the taxi driver and handed him a 1000 Baht note. “No,” he said, “you go buy something” as he pointed to the 7-11, he couldn’t make change for a 1000 Baht. I ran into the 7-11 with 3 minutes until the bus was scheduled to leave and grabbed a few snacks.

Perfect, I got two 1 Baht coins and ran back to the driver. I handed him the two coins, thinking it was the 20 Baht required for the fare. The driver looked at me incredulously, shaking his head… again, another currency error. “No, no, this isn’t even one Baht.” Oh crap. I fumbled through the bills and found a 20 Baht note, he smiled and gave me my small coins back and we jumped on the bus just as it was about to take off.

We felt foolish for not understanding the currency, but in a matter of thirty minutes we walked out of our guesthouse into the rain, boarded a boat, crossed the border, jumped in a taxi, and were faced with paying for a service in yet another new currency. This is the tenth currency we’ve dealt with in the last six months. Everything was happening so fast we didn’t even have a few minutes to process things; calculate exchange rates or recognize coinage and notes. After we got on the bus we studied the bills to make sure we wouldn’t repeat our mistake.

As we rolled through town we immediately noticed a change from our earlier environment, separated by a river and only 300 meters—Laos and Thailand are like night and day. The rustic town of Huay Xai has one bank (without an ATM), one petrol station, a handful of guesthouses (a few with slow internet connections and dinosaur computers) and maybe a dozen restaurants. However, when we crossed into Thailand we bumped into a 7-11 with an ATM outside, a Toyota dealership, several internet cafes and restaurants and bars everywhere.

Driving through the countryside of Chiang Rai Province we commented that the landscape was very similar to Laos. Except, the farmers in the rice paddies had significantly more technology, including tractors, pick-up trucks, gas powered weed-whackers, and most importantly paved roads to transport their product. There weren’t any oxen pulling plows, people pushing carts, children running around butt-naked, or bamboo thatched huts as commonly seen in Laos.

As we approached Chiang Rai, we realized we were no longer in the quaint country of Laos. We were being thrust back into a country that grasped capitalism years ago. Even though Thailand is known for a coup every 2-5 years, their economy seems to be booming, of course, tourism is one of the top reasons for the growing economy. I guess it is time for us to do our part!

Good-Bye to Laos...

Huay Xai, Laos

July 23, 2007

N 20°16.589
E 100°24.645

We continued our journey west towards Thailand via a slow boat on the Mekong River. We knew the boat was going to be slow when we departed at 8:50 AM, but we weren’t expecting the ride to take nine hours. Lucky for us, we were at the boat early, and able to get one of the twelve cushioned seats instead of parking our bum on a wooden bench for the entire journey.

We boarded the simple passenger boat, number 44, at the end of the dock in Pak Beng. We climbed down a set of stairs and balanced ourselves as we walked, with our packs, along an unsteady, 12” wide, plank to the vessel. The blue boat with a basic tin roof measured nine feet wide and fifty feet long. The hard, wooden bench seats were three feet long and perpendicular to the sides of the boat. We managed our way to the rear of the boat and immediately claimed our semi-reclining cushioned seats. Straw mats were thrown about the vessel, allowing passengers to take a break from their seats and lie down, or maybe even mediate.

The cruise along the Mekong didn’t disappoint us one bit. The passengers were able to enjoy the breathtaking panoramic views along the river as our driver dodged huge stalks of bamboo, tree branches, logs and other debris floating on the surface of the mud colored river. Corn terraced the countryside next to the river in abundance.

We stopped at several remote villages along the way to let passengers off. The small villages didn’t even have docks to accommodate the large boat, so the passengers would jump out near a clear patch along the shoreline and summon family from the village to retrieve them.

After a good nine hour cruise we finally landed in Huay Xai, grabbed our bags and headed to the first guesthouse we could find. We were both ready for a hot shower, food and a cold beer.

Laos overall has been a rewarding segment of our trip. The countryside is spotted with tourists here and there, but not like in Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand. Experiencing the untapped beauty in a scenic, serene setting is like nothing we have experienced.

The countryside is as beautiful as Nepal or New Zealand, but the fact that we were able to enjoy it nearly by ourselves was an unforeseen bonus. It was amazing to sit in a small little village, only accessible by boat, where running water, electricity, gas ranges and the internet and do not exist. The rustic bungalows had their charm, but the experience of the landscape made the lack of amenities completely worth it. In fact, a few days without internet access were actually refreshing!

Laos was definitely the cheapest country we’ve visited so far, where we averaged under $5 per night for a room (when you don’t have to pay for electricity it is a lot cheaper!), and around $15 a day for food.

The food, however, was not our favorite in Southeast Asia. In fact, I think I will be fine if I never have stir fried rice or stir friend noodles every again in my life. We did enjoy the sticky rice and enjoyed eating the food with our hands. Our best meal was probably the dinner we shared with Roger’s family in Ban Na. Kim and Em are excellent cooks and they really prepared a special meal for us that night.

The few words of Lao we did learn—"Hello", "Thank You" and "Thank You Very Much"—will be forgotten tomorrow as we head into Thailand and brush up on our Thai. At least we know we can order food!

Sawatdii Thailand!

Pak Beng After Dark...

Pak Beng, Laos

July 22, 2007
N 19°53.565
E 101°07.783

We discovered Pak Beng is a completely different town at night. Since it’s a major overnight stopping point for many local and tourist boats making their way up or down the Mekong the population seems to nearly double in the evenings. When we arrived, the only tourists in the town were us and a couple from England who dared to make the trip on the sawngthaew with us to Pak Beng.

Thinking we were still the only tourists in town we didn’t head out until 8:00 PM; figuring we could have our pick of any table at any restaurant along the street. However, we were surprised to find the streets lined with tourists wandering from restaurant, laughing and drinking Lao-Lao, or just relaxing on a patio sipping Beer Lao.

After a short stroll along Main Street we decided to give the one and only Indian restaurant in town a try. We had to sit off the street, inside the restaurant, since it was nearly full of diners; hindering any of the rare cool breeze from reaching us on the humid night.

After enjoying the Indian cuisine we headed back to our guesthouse, admired the views of the Mekong from the balcony and headed off to catch some sleep after another long travel day.

We woke around 9:00 AM and headed out to check out the town a little more and have our first cup of coffee in at least five days. The streets were again empty, all the tourists, including the English couple, departed on one of the boats that left in the morning to either Luang Prabang or Huay Xai (the border crossing into Thailand).

Lucky for us, we had the whole town to ourselves again, and plenty of time to explore the dusty, yet picturesque, river town.

You Go Pak Beng? I Go Pak Beng...

Pak Beng, Laos

July 21, 2007
N 19°53.565
E 101°07.783

Our goal for today was to get out of Oudomxay. After two days in the valley our throats were raw and couldn’t handle another pollution-filled day in the tiny town. We arrived at the bus station an hour before the 10:00 AM bus to Pak Beng, only to be told there weren’t any buses going to Pak Beng. We had a moment of shear panic, believing we were stuck in the town for another night, but quickly came to our senses and took control of the situation.

The ticket agent sat behind the counter breast feeding her baby and explained, “no more bus for Pak Beng today.” However, when Marc asked the driver of the Sawngthaew parked underneath the Pak Beng sign, he said “Yes, go to Pak Beng.” We went back to the ticket lady, still breast feeding; however, she wouldn’t budge—“no bus Pak Beng today.”

After getting the run-around for another ten minutes we discovered the bus we put our bags on was actually leaving for a town halfway between Oudomxay and Pak Beng, and the driver would most likely proceed to Pak Bang. Perfect, we figured we could catch a ride from there—anything to get us out of Oudomxay.

When the sawngthaew slowly crawled out of the bus station, there were a total of 27 passengers jam-packed into the truck. Five people in the cab, including the driver, 16 people crammed butt-to-butt on the bench seats, 3 people sitting in the middle of the bed on preschool sized plastic chairs, and 3 people standing on the bumper, holding on to the tailgate for dear life. I tried my best not to think what would happen if the driver rolled the truck with all this weight.

After two hours of the standard road torture (rain, wind, potholes, leg cramps, etc.) we made it to our halfway point. Everyone fell out of the bus, smiling and sorta congratulating each other on a trip well done, then slowly wandering off their own separate ways. Now we needed to figure out what bus may be going to Pak Beng.

It appeared there were at least six others on a quest to conquer the same route to Pak Beng. Locals and a few Westerners alike were standing around pointing at each other inquisitively, “Pak Beng, you go?” “Yes, Pak Beng.” “Pak Beng? Pak Beng?” “Which bus Pak Beng, Pak Beng?” “I go Pak Beng, you go Pak Beng?” It was the standard chaos.

After a good 20 minute Pak Beng inquisition, we all boarded yet another Sawngthaew and took off for Pak Beng. At this point we were pleased we didn’t just give up at the bus station and spend another night in Oudomxay; it appeared we were actually on our way to Pak Beng.

Shortly after taking off we stopped to pick up a Hmong family, a mother and her four children ranging in age from 6 months to 7 years. When they got in the truck the children were in awe of four huge, white, Westerners with pointy noses sitting directly across from them. As they sat speechless, the driver took off; zipping around corners at high speeds and tossing his passenger from side to side. Within minutes the entire family was vomiting from motion sickness; with the exception of the oldest boy.

At first the youngest girl barfed rice porridge all over her little brother’s shoulder and face. Next little brother spewed his lunch all over big sister and big brother. Then the mother finally got into the act and started vomiting off the back of the truck as she desperately clung to her infant; the sawngthaew continued at break-neck speeds. Then little sister started again… this time spewing porridge over the side of the truck and thankfully not on little brother again.

We felt horrible for the family. After barfing up their lunch, they sat still, without emotion, rice stuck to their faces and all over their clothes. After about an hour, the driver pulled over, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The family slowly unloaded, not a word to anyone, and solemnly walked off into a remote village.

Many of the Hmong still live in the remote hills in Laos and are gradually being forced to integrate with the lowland societies by the government. We could only speculate that this may have been their first ride in a sawngthaew, let alone a gas powered vehicle. Thus, completely understandable why they reacted the way they did.

We finally made it to the small village of Pak Beng, found a place to stay and strolled through the village. One main street runs through town and dead ends into the Mekong River. The name of the village actually means mouth of the Beng, since the town is right at the junction of the Beng River and Mekong River.

We plan on spending two nights here before taking a boat trip up the Mekong River to Huay Xai, and then cross the border into Thailand.

Just A Little Shit-Hole...

Oudomxay, Laos

July 20, 2007
N 20°41.289
E 102°59.193

We arrived in the dusty, hazy, town of Oudomxay, also spelt Udomxai, after our countryside visit. Dumped back into a larger city for Laos (Pop.: 80,000). Scooters, cars, piles of burning garbage, mangy dogs, and mud puddles lined the streets. The only redeeming quality of the town is that it’s surrounded by dark green mountains on all sides; unfortunately a perfect valley for the smog to come to rest.

I had a slight deja vu feeling as we walked down the muddy main street. Unfinished construction projects lined both sides of the street. Scattered about were rebar, bricks, gravel, and scaffolding, seemingly abandoned; surrounded by debris from the unfinished job and from the locals that have found a place to dump their trash. I’ve been here before, not to Oudomxay, but to neglected towns just like this in Vietnam, Nepal, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala… they all begin to look familiar. We lovingly call them our shit-holes.

We decided to stay two nights in this shit-hole to exchange money, update our blog, check email, and take a much needed break after a long travel day. We’ll be out of here tomorrow without a doubt.

Oudomxay will definitely end up on the towns to miss list on the South East Asia Wrap-Up. However, I’m sure we will look back fondly on this little town and smile; just like we have with all the others little shit-holes you’ll eventually stay in if you’re a traveler.