A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
Luang Nam Tha, Laos, to Chang Mai, Thailand

It's not like I've accomplished a whole lot in the last few days, but it's been nice nonetheless. After determining that I could not catch a boat to the Thai border(way too expensive as we had to charter one -- no regular service) we managed to spend about 10 hours just sitting arund the bungalow-like restaurant at our guesthouse chatting with travelers from all over (Germany, USA, Britain, Australia and Israel). This is the joy of Laos. It's not exceptionally exciting, and I've seen more impressive scenery, but the whole atmosphere is so friendly and relaxed that it's easy to meet people and spend days on end doing virtually nothing. The Laos themselves are not exactly hard workers either, for the most part. According to the Lonely Planet, the French had a saying when they controlled Indochina: "The Vietnamese plant the rice, the Cambodians watch it grow, and the Laos listen to it grow. It was a bit obnoxious of them to say it, given that the French were busy extracting natural resources while keeping the locals in desperate poverty, but it pretty much sums up the speed and attitude of Laos. They are laid back to the point of coma.

I was able to rouse myself in time to catch a "bus" (actually covered pickup) out the next morning. As it is Laos, thevehicle left an hour and 15 minutes late, so I had plenty of time to dawdle. The road to Huay Xai on the Thai border, which as mentioned before was of the bone-crunching unpaved variety, ran through the Nam Tha NBCA (like a national park) and featured the loveliest scenery I've seen in Laos. It was like wandering through the primeval forest, only loud, fast, incredibly dusty and painfully bumpy. I'm stil not quite sure I got the thick coating of dust and clay off my body, and I suspect it may never come out of my clothes.

After so many bumpy pickups as transport, I wimped out and opted for the deluxe method of getting to Chang Mai from the border -- air-conditioned minivan. So decadent! So comfortable! Now that I'm here I've pretty much spent all my time looking at guesthouses and eating, so I won't have much to report about Thailand until after my sister and brother-in-law arrive. Yay, family actually coming to visit!

Copyright 2003 Katy Warren
posted by Katy at 7:21 PM