On The Road...well...Dusty Track.
Muang Sing -> Nong Khiaw, 22nd April 2002
Today was definitely a `travelling day'. Loads of other backpackers
had been telling us about a small Lao town called Mung Ngoi. They'd
been giving it rave reviews so a group of us decided to check it
out. Some of the best places are found by word of mouth. So, by 8am,
an American guy, a Slovenian guy, 2 Swedish guys, a French Canadian
girl, a German lady, a Kiwi couple and Matt & I were all ready to do
the first leg of the journey. We had decided to drive to the hub
town of Udomaxai today, stay the night, then continue on to Mung
Ngoi the next day.
Before setting off, we had a look around the market for some snacks.
The Lao snacks didn't look too appetizing, roasted cockroaches,
roasted frogs, roasted rats and roasted fish heads. Hmm, sandwiches
anyone? In the end we managed to find some simple fare, and settled
on baguettes, bananas & sticky rice.
As the truck waited for the 'commuters' to load up, a large group of
old ladies, dressed in hill tribe outfits, tried to sell us jewelry
and fabric. For 3o minutes they constantly pushed and poked us,
insisting that we buy at 'very good price'. However, we all had
bought our share yesterday, so we sat having our patience tested to
the limit. Eventually, the truck pulled off.
It was quite an easy first 2 hours to Luang Nam Tha. We were in a
great big truck so there was plenty of room. The only thing of
interest were the 2 live chickens squawking in a tiny bamboo cage &
the plastic bag of live frogs. Nice.
At Luang Nam Tha we changed to a bus, yes a real bus! A whole seat
to myself! Of course there was a Lao taste to it, they filled the
aisle with plastic chairs for other passengers to sit on! After an
easy 4 hours on the road we reached Udomxai. As we stood in the
quiet, dusty square of this empty town, we quickly reached a group
decision to continue on to Nong Kiaw today, the next major town. If
we spent the night there, we would only be a 1 hour boat ride away
from the fabled Mung Ngoi.
We found a sawngthaew waiting in the square and we left at 5pm, the
driver eagerly promising that we'd be in Nong Kiaw by 7pm. We were
doubtful as we'd been told the journey should take 3 to 4 hours.
Maybe he knew a short cut, or he drove fast..
For the next 2 hours we sped along very winding roads in the dark,
with the driver miraculously not killing us or anything else. Even
with his taking blind corners fast in the wrong lane, and the large
number of tribal children sitting in the road in the dark & the
dozens of water buffalo trudging along the road. After another hour
of driving, we stopped at 8pm in a small town. The driver managed to
convey to us that we would easily be in Nong Kiaw by 9pm. Just 2
hours late. Not too happy, but not surprised either, we had no
choice but to ride & make do. Some people seemed to be wearing thing
with the 100% longer journey, but there was little they could do.
After some even faster driving we stopped at Nong Kiaw at 9pm.
Quickly, we hunted out a guesthouse. We found one nearby that had
very basic, but cheap, rooms and would do fine. After leaving our
stuff in our rooms, we all hurried down to a nearby restaurant to
get some food and celebratory drinks for the Kiwi guy's birthday.
The rest of the evening was spent chatting and comparing cultures
and countries. After an interesting few hours, the electricity went
out & our candles had burned low, so we decided to call it a night.
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