Playing Sardines in a Sawngthaew & Meeting Old Friends
Luang Nam Tha -> Muang Sing, 20th April 2002
After grabbing a sizey breakfast to last for a while, I jumped onto
a sawngthaew to get to Muang Sing. A nice short journey today, only
2 hours on the lovely Laotian road.
The sawngthaew, as usual, was packed with people, backpacks & big
sacks of rice. I think there were about 13 people squashed in the
back with another 5 or so crammed in the cab. We were packed in, but
there were just enough personal space, it should be a comfortable
journey (by Lao standards). Every bit of possible space was taken
up, but we weren't over squashed. Should be an easy ride. I spoke
too soon, 5 minutes down the road, the truck stopped, and 2 people
ran down the road. You aren't seriously going to try and get in?!
But they did, they clambered over people and squatted in the aisle
in the middle. After a bit of shifting & more squashing up, I
managed to defy the laws of physics and still find a
semi-comfortable position, but I couldn't move at all, because of
the density of bodies around me.
Off we went again. But then we stopped again. An middle aged Laotian
woman, carrying 2 large bags, huffing and puffing, ran up to us. You
cannot be serious! But yes she was & somehow she squeezed herself &
her bags in.
Yet again we pulled off and luckily no more people were to join us
for the rest of the journey.
We passed trough some more stunning terrain as we drove along a
fairly comfortable road. With minimal bumps & problems we reached
Muang Sing in good time.
I quickly found a guest house I liked and threw my stuff into my
room. After a bite to eat in a nearby restaurant with yummy meals &
great prices, I went for a little walk around town.
The main road was nothing spectacular, although it does have some
very interesting French colonial style house. However, back off,
away from the main road, were some amazing sights.
Behind the main road were a criss-cross of dusty paths with an
amazing collection of houses. The houses were all old-style with
wooden walls & thatched roofs, gathered in a tight huddle. Walking
among these rustic, ramshackle house was a strange experience, it
was how I'd imagined medieval peasant houses to being old-time
England. It's bizarre how places like this still exist! I'm a
scientist by nature & I love technology. It's easy to forget that
not all the world, in fact a large part of it, has very little
`modern technology'. What they do have, is usually decades old
cast-offs from Europe. Lao may only be 1000s of miles from Europe,
but its millions of miles apart in terms of technology & life-style.
For example, some towns in Lao have no phones, never mind Internet
access! Internet access is very rare here, only found in a handful
of major towns & then unreliable & slow. I guess its related to the
fact that most towns only get electricity for a few hours in the
evening!
Anyhow, back to these houses, I wish I had a video camera so I could
walk around this village & show others what I mean, but I've had to
make do with some photos. The closest thing to this place that I can
think of is the 17th Century style village set up in Hampshire. It
really is quite strange walking around here!
After I'd finished touring the village, I returned to my guesthouse,
& the weirdest thing happened. Sitting on the steps chatting with
some vendors, a guy with a light beard & long hair called my name. I
looked at him, and slowly realised that it was Matthew Whitney, a
guy who I went to school with about 5 years ago, and have heard
nothing of since then!
In a tiny, in descript village in the corner of Lao, completely by
chance I had bumped into someone from my years at school! Of course,
the next few hours were spent catching up & reminiscing over old
times. I still can't get over this coincidence!
We went for a walk through the fields around Muang Sing sharing gap
year stories & chatting about everything. We both decided to do one
of the one day treks tomorrow, so we went along to the tourist
office to put our names on the list. We also met up with 2 Swedish
guys who Matt knew & after a quick chat with the trek organiser, we
grabbed some dinner.
The evening was spent eating, drinking & sharing interesting tales.
We were soon joined by 2 English girls and a Dutch guy and the
conversation went late into the night. The evening only ended when
the electricity (& the lights) shut off & the staff kicked us out!
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