1. Yours truely putting final touches to this blog in
the selubrious souroundings of the Mekong Hotel
2. The Mekong Hotel and one of Vientiane's 'busiest' thoroughfares
3. Fishing on the Mekong
4. Nice place for lunch
5. Evidnce of the recent flooding
6. View from my hotel room
Welcome to Laos
A good six weeks into my trip I have finally entered my second country. Udon Thani is only 60 Km’s from the Laos border and the capital, Vientiane is only about 20 Km’s in on the other side, the plan was to get me into a hotel by mid afternoon . Just a as a matter of interest the Thais’ do not have a ‘v’ in their language so pronounce Vientiane ‘WenChan’ . In distance terms it is certainly within an hour’s ride, but add a border crossing into the mix and anything could happen. So it was a fairly leisurely pack after my swim and a head off at around 10:30 AM. As is now almost a daily routine about 15 Km’s up the road the heavens opened again this time with real gusto. I put on the waterproofs but this was a monsoon, the genuine article and riding was difficult, I was looking for one of the roadside shelters that cover the countryside to take refuge whilst the rains did their worst but it was over just as quickly as it started. At this stage I did not have Laos currency (the kip) and although I had enough fuel to get to Vientiane I wanted to fill up as a matter of precaution. There wasn’t any hurry, I knew I would be in a hotel by mid afternoon but there is a slightly uneasy feeling of low fuel and no currency which just smacks of bad planning. The border town of Nong Khai looked like the place to fuel up and maybe get a bite to eat whilst I still had some comprehension of the language. (Remember I had been advised that they would speak Thai in Laos but never take anything for granted). I entered the outskirts of Nong Khai on Highway 2 and before I knew it I was at the border crossing, so I thought I’d hang the refuel and at least grab some currency. It was fairly busy the vast majority of people travelling by couch either from Laos to Thailand or visa versa. A furongse on a Thai motorbike threw them a bit.
Now bleating on about border crossings is in the same rich vein as bleating on about travelling by airline travel and I wouldn’t want to step onto that slippery slope, I understand the need for border integrity and customs control but why why all those pieces of paper ?. I have vague recollections in the past of travelling throughout Europe needing passport controls and customs checks, with the EU that has all but disappeared unless you are travelling in out of the UK. Australia being a huge Island does not even have the opportunity to sample the delights of the red tape frenzy which are border controls. I was arrived expecting problems which always a good attitude to have so if it all goes smoothly it is a pleasant surprise. I was regretting not having a good feed before arriving (a good piece of advice by the way, you have no idea how long you could be there). As always, the key virtues are patience, politeness and keep smiling, they have a procedure they have to stick to and I was prepared to pay a bribe if it oiled the wheels. A good lesson I took with me from the series ‘long way round’ is to ask if there is a ‘fee’ to pay, which gives the illusion that the bribe is official. To be fair to the customs and immigration they helped me through the procedure of the forms which as always is far too many, I have just counted I am now no less than 12 pieces of paper heavier than I was before I arrived at the border crossing. There were two booths facing one another, one for declaring exportation of a vehicle from Thailand, the other declaring the importation of the vehicle to Laos. Most of the paperwork revolved around the vehicle, the visa I had acquired in Australia was no problem, but I had to too and fro between the two booths no less than 3 times, each time queuing with another 20 or so people doing the same thing. The immigration guards although not being overtly friendly were no officious and seemed happy to help a furongse through the forms. The whole process took less than an hour and I was waved through the gate. I was not prepared to pack the paperwork away and put my helmet on until I was clear of the customs post and on the road; you just know there is going to be at least one more check. The narrow road turns to the left and heads out over what is called the Lao- Thai Friendship Bridge. I did notice that there were still an abundance of Thai flags and the yellow flags of the king. Which confirmed to me that I was still very much in Thailand? The narrow bridge crosses the Mekong which at this point is very wide (about ½ Km) halfway across the flag changes to that of the Laos PDR and the walkway next to the road has quaintly, a small gate. Down on the other side of the bridge was the enviable border crossing and customs post which means that the whole process had to be repeated. I was told to park the bike up and join the queue for a visa, my first discovery I made in Laos is they do not speak Thai (although I think in truth they speak a version of Thai which is heavily accented, as I was already in trouble with pronunciations I was not being understood). Although after I showed the guard my passport with the visa he still insisted I stood in the queue for a visa, I am guessing the usual logic failure, his job was to point people to the visa booth, visa or not. A 15 minute wait to get to the visa booth, the customs officer looked and my passport and visa handed them back and pointed to the immigration booth and said ‘go immigration’. (Remember this is the point you smile). The customs department shown great interest in the green book and spent a good half hour checking the details. This stop was about an hour and a half and I managed to get some money changed at the same time. Now there are 30 BHT to the Aussie Dollar and there are about 250 kip to the Dollar, by my calculations that means that there are 7500 kip to the dollar. The 2000 kip note for some reason has the figure 6000 printed on it as well as the denomination of 2000,now that is annoying in a league of its own. It was now mid afternoon so I thought and short blat into Vientiane, hotel, feed, shower. After leaving the immigration building I became almost instantly aware of how little research I had done on Laos and never never rely on the locals to give you vital information. The Laotians drive on the right, a fact I only discovered when I turned onto the road to Vientiane and I realised everybody was heading straight for me. WHY DIDN’T ANYBODY TELL ME.? Som times I annoy myself with my own stupidity, Laos is a former French colony, of course they are going to drive on the right.
The first night I found myself a cheap and cheerful hotel which was a bit too much cheap and cheerful, I’m getting used to the fact that in the cheaper hotels it is a lot to be expected that everything works and in good order. But a failed fridge and failed shower are beyond the limit.
I had a quick sojourn into the city last night, roughly the size of Adelaide and fairly quiet, but quite pretty. The French influence is everywhere, in the road names ,the architecture, the sawn-off toilets, and numerous French Restaurants ‘la Provincial’ etc. It would be nice to have a meal which did not have either rice or noodles in it. I stopped at a Chinese restaurant and had good feed of Peking duck and watched the losing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on TV with a group of very excited and animated Chinese men. I stopped and had a massage on the way back to the hotel, I must admit I was expecting a woman but I got a man but was a good massage, this was a Laos massage which as I can figure is a less traumatic version of a Thai massage. The Sojourn also gave me a chance to check out an alternative hotel and the Mekong Hotel which runs alongside the river looked favourite.
The following morning, yes it’s raining again, not serious what you might call Welsh Sunshine, which is the rain you get in Wales when it’s officially not raining, and run across town to the Mekong Hotel. At US$50 a night it is by far the most expensive hotel I’ve stayed in and is pushing my budget but what a room, a view of the Mekong, kettle, ADSL internets and EVERYTHING WORKS.
Tonight I am meeting Souly who is the director of SEDA- Laos a charity who are involved in social development projects in the North of Laos. For those who are unaware I belong to an organisation called ‘Engineers without borders’ who are involved in development projects in poorer parts of the world. As I understand it on Thursday I am meeting a fellow Engineer who is flying in from Melbourne and we head off to the north to have a look at a project converting an old diesel generator to run on bio fuel. I believe we are shooting a video as well. I’m sure as the story unravels it will be slightly different but that is the nature of things. Personally I am looking forward to getting involved, I doubt my level of expertise is going to work miracles but I am happy to help in any capacity. It also gives me a chance to meet and get involved with the locals which I generally find a lot more rewarding than spending time with expats.
Now bleating on about border crossings is in the same rich vein as bleating on about travelling by airline travel and I wouldn’t want to step onto that slippery slope, I understand the need for border integrity and customs control but why why all those pieces of paper ?. I have vague recollections in the past of travelling throughout Europe needing passport controls and customs checks, with the EU that has all but disappeared unless you are travelling in out of the UK. Australia being a huge Island does not even have the opportunity to sample the delights of the red tape frenzy which are border controls. I was arrived expecting problems which always a good attitude to have so if it all goes smoothly it is a pleasant surprise. I was regretting not having a good feed before arriving (a good piece of advice by the way, you have no idea how long you could be there). As always, the key virtues are patience, politeness and keep smiling, they have a procedure they have to stick to and I was prepared to pay a bribe if it oiled the wheels. A good lesson I took with me from the series ‘long way round’ is to ask if there is a ‘fee’ to pay, which gives the illusion that the bribe is official. To be fair to the customs and immigration they helped me through the procedure of the forms which as always is far too many, I have just counted I am now no less than 12 pieces of paper heavier than I was before I arrived at the border crossing. There were two booths facing one another, one for declaring exportation of a vehicle from Thailand, the other declaring the importation of the vehicle to Laos. Most of the paperwork revolved around the vehicle, the visa I had acquired in Australia was no problem, but I had to too and fro between the two booths no less than 3 times, each time queuing with another 20 or so people doing the same thing. The immigration guards although not being overtly friendly were no officious and seemed happy to help a furongse through the forms. The whole process took less than an hour and I was waved through the gate. I was not prepared to pack the paperwork away and put my helmet on until I was clear of the customs post and on the road; you just know there is going to be at least one more check. The narrow road turns to the left and heads out over what is called the Lao- Thai Friendship Bridge. I did notice that there were still an abundance of Thai flags and the yellow flags of the king. Which confirmed to me that I was still very much in Thailand? The narrow bridge crosses the Mekong which at this point is very wide (about ½ Km) halfway across the flag changes to that of the Laos PDR and the walkway next to the road has quaintly, a small gate. Down on the other side of the bridge was the enviable border crossing and customs post which means that the whole process had to be repeated. I was told to park the bike up and join the queue for a visa, my first discovery I made in Laos is they do not speak Thai (although I think in truth they speak a version of Thai which is heavily accented, as I was already in trouble with pronunciations I was not being understood). Although after I showed the guard my passport with the visa he still insisted I stood in the queue for a visa, I am guessing the usual logic failure, his job was to point people to the visa booth, visa or not. A 15 minute wait to get to the visa booth, the customs officer looked and my passport and visa handed them back and pointed to the immigration booth and said ‘go immigration’. (Remember this is the point you smile). The customs department shown great interest in the green book and spent a good half hour checking the details. This stop was about an hour and a half and I managed to get some money changed at the same time. Now there are 30 BHT to the Aussie Dollar and there are about 250 kip to the Dollar, by my calculations that means that there are 7500 kip to the dollar. The 2000 kip note for some reason has the figure 6000 printed on it as well as the denomination of 2000,now that is annoying in a league of its own. It was now mid afternoon so I thought and short blat into Vientiane, hotel, feed, shower. After leaving the immigration building I became almost instantly aware of how little research I had done on Laos and never never rely on the locals to give you vital information. The Laotians drive on the right, a fact I only discovered when I turned onto the road to Vientiane and I realised everybody was heading straight for me. WHY DIDN’T ANYBODY TELL ME.? Som times I annoy myself with my own stupidity, Laos is a former French colony, of course they are going to drive on the right.
The first night I found myself a cheap and cheerful hotel which was a bit too much cheap and cheerful, I’m getting used to the fact that in the cheaper hotels it is a lot to be expected that everything works and in good order. But a failed fridge and failed shower are beyond the limit.
I had a quick sojourn into the city last night, roughly the size of Adelaide and fairly quiet, but quite pretty. The French influence is everywhere, in the road names ,the architecture, the sawn-off toilets, and numerous French Restaurants ‘la Provincial’ etc. It would be nice to have a meal which did not have either rice or noodles in it. I stopped at a Chinese restaurant and had good feed of Peking duck and watched the losing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on TV with a group of very excited and animated Chinese men. I stopped and had a massage on the way back to the hotel, I must admit I was expecting a woman but I got a man but was a good massage, this was a Laos massage which as I can figure is a less traumatic version of a Thai massage. The Sojourn also gave me a chance to check out an alternative hotel and the Mekong Hotel which runs alongside the river looked favourite.
The following morning, yes it’s raining again, not serious what you might call Welsh Sunshine, which is the rain you get in Wales when it’s officially not raining, and run across town to the Mekong Hotel. At US$50 a night it is by far the most expensive hotel I’ve stayed in and is pushing my budget but what a room, a view of the Mekong, kettle, ADSL internets and EVERYTHING WORKS.
Tonight I am meeting Souly who is the director of SEDA- Laos a charity who are involved in social development projects in the North of Laos. For those who are unaware I belong to an organisation called ‘Engineers without borders’ who are involved in development projects in poorer parts of the world. As I understand it on Thursday I am meeting a fellow Engineer who is flying in from Melbourne and we head off to the north to have a look at a project converting an old diesel generator to run on bio fuel. I believe we are shooting a video as well. I’m sure as the story unravels it will be slightly different but that is the nature of things. Personally I am looking forward to getting involved, I doubt my level of expertise is going to work miracles but I am happy to help in any capacity. It also gives me a chance to meet and get involved with the locals which I generally find a lot more rewarding than spending time with expats.
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