The Easy Life
Huay Xai -> Luang Nam Tha, 18th April 2002
The next day's boat journey was just like the first. 10 hours of
stunning scenery. There's not really much else I can say about it.
You'd have to see it to do it justice!
When we reached Huay Xai, the hotel hunting started again, this time
it was a Finn and I. The other people we were chatting to yesterday
had gone the other way down the river. I'd picked a place out of the
guide book and it turned out to be perfect. A million times better
than the place we were yesterday, and only a smidge more expensive.
We took a walk around Huay Xai, a medium sized, quiet Lao village.
It's a very peaceful place, but a bit more alive that Pakbeng. We
had a bite to eat looking over the river. I could get use to eating
while looking out over the majestic Mekong! As we sat eating, I
noticed how obvious it was that it was Thailand on the other river
bank. Bright lights, noise and huge, ugly concrete buildings! Quite
a contrast to this quiet, undeveloped, peaceful town. Although Lao
is a much poorer country, I think it's a much nicer and more
interesting place. So far, I prefer Lao to Thailand. It's a
wonderful place, but I'll compare them more fully later after I've
seen more.
We chatted about our lives, comparing Finnish and English life. It
was interesting how this guy was very similar to the French guy I
was chatting to the other night. They were both about 30 years old
and had done lots of travelling in their years. However, all of
their friends had done less travelling, if any, and were now settled
down with families. Neither the French guy or the Finnish guy had
families yet. Is that an important point to note? You decide.
The next day, the Finn moved on to Thailand and I spent the day
exploring Huay Xai. It's a small town that's spread along the Mekong
for a few kms. I visited an important temple, situated at the top of
the hill with views of the town around it.
I noticed that most of the people here cross the river to Thailand
to do their shopping. Crowds of them came of the boats with armfuls
of shopping. Either Thai stuff is better, there's more variety or
they like getting it tax free!
The day passed quickly, I just strolled around watching Lao life go
on around me. There were still a few kids armed with hoses & buckets
of water, catching the end of New Year. Unfortunately, there's only
one road in certain places, so there's no avoiding them. But due to
the intense heat of the day, I dried out quickly. Anyhow, like the
Thai people, most of the Lao were very friendly, calling to me
saying ''Sabai Dii!'' or ''Hello!''.
In the evening I had dinner, overlooking the Mekong River again,
before heading back to my hotel for the night.
The next day, I decided to hang around for a bit. I had a bit of
traveller's inertia, and felt like chilling here for a bit. I spent
the exploring Huay Xai a bit more. It's not a very big town, so I
ended up retracing some of the paths I'd taken yesterday. However,
seeing as most of the other falangs had crossed over to Thailand in
the morning, the town was very quiet today.
There are two main temples in this town and I had a quick look round
them. They are both sited at the top of the hills and give some
views of the town, although its a little obscured by some trees. The
very young monks, no more than 12 years old, greeted me with a
smile, before scurrying off to continue with their duties, their
orange robes billowing around them.
I walked a few kms south of town, attempting to find the morning
market, but I eventually gave up. (I learned the next day that I'd
taken a wrong turning.
There's not much else to say about today, I just walked around a lot
watching Lao life. I also thought my legs needed the exercising
after 2 days sitting on a boat.
In the evening, I gazed across the river to the Thai town on the
other river bank. Loud Thai pop music blared across the water &
forests of lights shot brashly from the buildings. It looked a bit
like a funfair, especially in comparison to the quiet Lao town I was
standing in.
In my hotel, the whole of the 2nd floor was taken up by what looked
like a large, celebrating Lao family. All cousins, uncles, nephews,
2nd cousins and acquaintances included. They were obviously
celebrating Pi Mai Lo (Lao New Year). The huge crowd of them sat
cross legged around a huge spread of food & drink laid on a
collection of mats on the floor. They celebrated noisly late into
the evening before they all filtered away.
After another quiet dinner overlooking the Mekong, I headed back to
my room to do some reading before hitting the sack.
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