7 Hour Bumpy Roads and 40p Guesthouses
Huay Xai -> Luang Nam Tha, 18th April 2002
This morning I had breakfast with a Swiss girl from the hotel across
the road. She had been stuck in tiny Huay Xai for a week because of
illness. It was the classic traveller's tale: She'd eaten something
dodgy, been confined to her room for a week & really wanted to go
back home. She'd had enough of travelling. It's amazing how tempting
it is to be tucked up in bed at home with your mum feeding you
lovely, homely food when you're feeling sick. However, as soon as
she recovered, she was ready to go on again and she definitely DID
NOT want to go home. Recovery from illness always brings backs the
reasons you want to travel. So remember that when you travel, even
if you feel terrible, bear with it & don't go home. When you're back
in good health you'll quickly remember why you want to travel.
The Swiss girl spoke Swiss-German (her home tongue), French &
English. She said that her English wasn't very good, but she sounded
perfectly fluent to me, if I could speak another language like that,
I'd be more than happy! I've met a lot of people who speak English
almost fluently & say `Sorry for my poor English', and I'm like
`You're English is better than lots of English people!'. I practised
a few French phrases with her before it was time to catch my
bus...well...my truck.
I jumped on a tuk-tuk to take me to the bus station, a small dusty
square with a collection of sawngthaews parked around it & a small
office. The tuk-tuk driver pointed me to the office & I bought my
ticket, 60,000 Kip ( 5.50) for the 7 hour journey.
I slung my bag on top, then climbed into the waiting Sawngthaew.
After 30 minutes, it slowly filled up. Firstly I was seated with one
falang & a group of locals, then when another group of falangs
showed up, a bit of debate followed. There were 2 sawngthaews going
to Luang Nam Tha, and the drivers had a loud discussion, not that I
could understand what was being said. After a few minutes, most of
the locals were moved into the other sawngthaew, and in mine there
were 3 locals, 3 local kids, 5 falangs & me. We were all crammed in
tight, 12 in a space most tourists would see fit for 4. We were all
ready to go, when 2 more falangs showed up. There followed another
discussion between the drivers, this time I could make out some of
the words. They were clearly discussing numbers. There was a smidgen
of space left in our truck, and they indicated for the 2 falangs to
get in with us. We weren't so sure. But after some hesitating, we
somehow fitted them in with us. 14 people now sat in there, plus a
huge bag of rice. Pretty cramped, but one of the falangs said that
there was more room than usual!
Cleverly, I'd deliberately ensured that I had a seat right at the
back, that way if I wanted to stretch my legs, I could just swing
them out of the back & let them dangle.
So, all packed & ready to go, we sped off down the dusty track on
the start of our 7 hour journey. I'd already read warning that this
would be a VERY bumpy road, and it definitely was.
At the start it was quite good. The dusty road was well-kept, flat &
easy to drive on. I was able to sit back an enjoy the splendid
mountain views. Huge green mountains stretched high into the sky &
deep, luscious valleys ran far down below us.
The sun came out & shone done fiercely. After a few hours driving,
the driver got a bit concerned by the smoke coming out of the sides
of the bonnet. He soon stopped and worked out what the problem was.
He threw some water onto the front wheels & steam billowed up with a
loud accompanying hiss. Me thinks the brakes or wheels are
overheating. So we made an unscheduled stop, to give the truck a
break. The view was still quite fantastic (photos to follow), and
after 15 minutes we continued onwards.
The scenery was quite astounding. Also, every so often we'd pass
through a small village. Very rustic, wooden huts with thatched
roofs and a very `medieval peasant' feel to them. We made a stop in
one village for lunch, and I had a little look around. The most
modern & expensive looking building was clearly the village temple.
Obviously they do have the skills to build bricks & mortar
buildings, but for some reason they don't. Also, peeking into a few
house I was suprised to see some mod-cons, such as fridges. Also, in
one garden there was a whopping great satellite dish. Hmm. So,
they're not as un-advanced as I thought. It's actually working quite
well, they're becoming slowly more modern, while retaining some
traditional aspects of their lives. Not like Thailand, which has
unfortunately suffered from its rapid modernisation. More about that
at another time.
When returned from my wanderings, I found 2 of the Lao passengers, a
father & young sun sitting in the truck, eating some sticky rice &
chicken. The poor little boy stood up with a determined face, biting
his lip, then a puddle formed at his feet. His dad looked angrily at
him, the he burst into tears, so his dad's face turned to a smile
and he gave him a great big hug. The little boy looked over his
father's shoulder and I'll always remember his big, brown, blubbing
eyes.
On the road, one of the most amazing sights, were the herds of
buffalo/bison(?) strolling along the road or lying in deep puddles,
huge, horned heads poking out, like in the stereotypical photos.
The fairly good road then began to get gradually & gradually worse.
Initially, there were just a few occasional bumps, the pot-holes
would surprise us & we'd be thrown upwards, head into the ceiling,
then back down heavily into the seat. Soon, it wasn't a case of a
potholed road, but a collection of potholes with some scraps of road
joining them!
We were thrown every way possible, our blood being churned into
butter. Our hands were rubbed raw from holding on tightly to the
rails in an attempt to being thrown out of the back from the bumps.
All I can say is that I am very grateful for the suspension & the
slight padding on the seats!
In a few places we came to huge dips in the road. The driver would
slow suddenly, throwing us all forwards, then crawl along. The
bottom of the truck would scrape noisily along the rocks, but the
driver continued undeterred. These dips were already flooded, and it
was the peak of the dry season, these roads must become impossible
in the wet season.
However, after all that, it wasn't as bad as I'd heard it was, so
either things are getting better, or people have been exaggerating.
The few stops we made were gratefully received so we could walk &
breath life back into numb bums & legs. After about 8 hours on the
road, we pulled in safely at Luang Nam Tha bus station (again, just
a dusty square). As I got my stuff off the truck, I noticed that I
was covered in dust, kicked up from the truck, especially my feet
which had been dangling out of the back. I brushed myself off as
best as I could then started the hotel hunt.
The place I eventually settled on was quite nice, but majorly
overpriced. Glad to have somewhere to throw my stuff and the
prospect of a nice cold shower, I paid up without thinking. But at
50,000 Kip, en-suite but just fan, not air-con, it wasn't worth it.
Tomorrow morning I'll change guesthouses.
Anyhow, I did indeed have my nice cold, refreshing shower & rinsed
off the dust that had been carried with me from Huay Xai Then after
loosening myself up from 8 hours on the road, I had a little walk
around Luang Nam Tha.
Luang Nam Tha is a medium sized town, the `capital' of a province of
the same name. It basically consists of about 3 parallel streets
with the town running along & between them for about 1km. Not very
big, but a lovely atmosphere. Very peaceful, very laid-back, very
picturesque, very Lao!
I stopped for dinner in a small restaurant & chatted with an English
lady & a Danish guy who sat at my table. I must be getting the hang
of travelling solo, I seem to be spending each evening, & sometimes
every morning, with a different person. There really are 100s of
solo travellers out there to meet up & chat with. Contrary to what
some people think, traveling solo is rarely lonely. If you sit on
your own for too long anywhere, locals or fellow travellers will
almost always come up to you.
Anyhow, back to this evening. After dinner, the English lady stayed
at the cafe, planning her trekking and the Danish guy & I went to
explore Luang Nam Tha a bit more. It didn't take too long, and when
it got dark & the mozzies started biting, we headed back to our
guesthouses. I asked the Danish guy about the place he was staying
in, and was amazed by the price.I knew I didn't stay in the cheapest
hotels, why force myself to stay in a bug infested dump when I cam
afford to budget a little higher? By 'higher' I mean £2 per night,
which can usually buy a clean &pretty damn good room, sometimes
en-suite! This Danish guy was staying as a Chinese guest house in a
room that costed 6000 Kip, about 40p, per night. He said it's not
very nice, but he doesn't mind. Uuhhhh, the mind shudders, but I
wonder what it's like...I think my slightly more expensive room will
do me just fine. Night night!
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