Out Of Thailand Into Laos

Leaving the amazing experience of Nongtao behind us, our last port of call in Thailand is Chiang Rai, towards the north east corner of the country, our stepping stone to Laos. We make two stops en route to Chiang Rai, firstly at the hot springs at Wiang Pa Pao, the water not just hot but boiling as it shoots out through the geysers. What the hell is happening underground to create that amount of heat??!

The second stop is at the famous White Temple which sits around 20 minutes from Chiang Rai, a slightly bizarre creation which can’t make its mind up whether it’s a temple, a tourist trap, or a theme park. With echoes of Gaudi’s influence in Barcelona, this creation, whilst still an important Buddhist temple, is the plaything of local artist made good, Chalermchai Khotsitpipat, whose sculptures and paintings in this temple depict everything from Man’s ascent to Heaven through to modern day cartoon characters and movie super heroes. It’s all a bit, errr, weird.

Khotsitpipat is also responsible for the city’s other main source of pride, the clock tower, which by contrast is actually quite cool, and delivers its own quirky music and light show as the chimes ring in the hour at each of 7,8 and 9pm.

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Chiang Rai is, as all the guidebooks say, low key and relaxed, and it’s fun to sip beer and watch life go on, and watch the clock tower do its stuff. We take our meals at plastic tables within the market, it’s delicious, fresh, and cheap, and, for us, this is where we bid our farewell to Thailand after 30 days. It’s been brilliant. Goodbye Thailand, and khaawp khun kaaaaaa.

Two Days On the Mekong River

A very quick black coffee, a quick bite, 6.15am pick up, head off towards Laos, still dark. Thai visa exit paperwork complete, over the bridge, obtain and pay for Laos visa, on to the boat which is home for the next two days. This is the start of our journey to Luang Prabang, two days on the mighty Mekong River, its glorious landscape passing by as we glide through its waters. Our overnight stop is Pakbeng, as it is for everyone who makes this journey; Pakbeng is a small town which has sprung up principally to cater for the boat stopovers, and has a fun transient feel as a result. So we eat curry with new friends from the boat, whilst darkness falls and cicadas hum, and the mighty Mekong flows through town beneath us.

Over the two days we cover over 300 kilometres of river, though throughout that entire distance Pakbeng is the only town, the rest is rural lands and occasional tribal villages. The river water itself is an endless attraction, sometimes hugely wide, sometimes narrowed almost to rapids; eddies and whirlpools spin, transverse currents rage, flat calm pools sit beside whirling chaos. These boat skippers must be very skilled; we are told whilst on board that the shifting sands change the river daily, meaning that reading the surface water is his only guide, there is absolutely no other clue to safe navigation.

Of course, it’s dry season, so water levels are low – apparently, this year, exceptionally low, changing the character still further and making navigation even more of a skill. 

The boat makes three stops en route, two at tribal villages and the other at Pak Ou cave, a remote cave packed with Buddha statues of all sizes. At each village the children throng around, trying to sell handcraft items, their eyes pleading. It’s hard not to give in and buy off each one. These villages are Hmong tribal villages, a tribe dominant along the Mekong but historically repressed in Laos by successive political regimes. These children are probably the lucky ones, at least they have boat passengers to sell wares to. There must be hundreds of other villages struggling without any such privilege.

The age of sexual consent, and the age of legal marriage, is fourteen here. Some of these little things will be mothers before they are adults. Some already are. 

Long stretches of the embankments are coastal in appearance, rocky outcrops punctuating huge expanses of beach with soft golden sand, miles of empty river beach. Much of this is of course under water throughout the rainy season. Dotted along these shorelines are groups of tribespeople panning for gold, meticulously sifting through the grains for their piece of fortune.

As our second day on board comes to a close, we moor at Luang Prabang, our home for the next few days, bidding farewell to our shipmate friends and the rather wonderful crew. For this 2-day journey, we opted out of the speedboat, but likewise didn’t take the crowded public boat either, opting instead for Mekong Smile Cruise, and we can’t speak highly enough of their excellent service. They were brilliant.

And so the next experience begins. A new location in a new country, a changing cuisine and a different language, and a country where drawing a million out of the Bank gets you less than £100.