Sabai Dee. the Socialist Republic of Laos, 2008

Posted: Aug.2010, Written: Oct.2008

Welcome to Laos!!

First off...the whole two day boat trip down the Mekong River was a baaaaaaad idea....Once we crossed the border from Thailand into Laos (up way North in a small town called Chiang Khong) I duly got my visa and boarded our slow boat ferry. The trip was two days long, with an overnight in a small town in between to break up the journey. The first day, brilliant! Beautiful blue skies, more than enough room for everyone to sit comfortable on the benches or on the floor. Queenie and I got there early, so we moved benches around and dug up pillows from the boatmen quarters to make two little beds for us. We slept for about 4 hours of the 6 hour journey. We made our stop at a town so small it didn't even have a proper name, where we had traditional food (sticky rice with barbeque pork and beef), Beer Lao (one of the best beers in SE Asia) and of course a good night's rest.

We woke up early this morning, refreshed and ready to go! My omelet sandwich I ordered for breakfast turned out to be a soft baguette, with lettuce and tomatoes, with two sliced boiled eggs inside. Ketchup smeared on the bread and soy sauce with chilis on the egg...I was a bit nervous taking that first bite...but wow! So good! We got to the boat, and everything changed....a dark cloud fell over Queenie and I as we realized we were now cramming more people onto a smaller boat. This was going to be a long 7 hours!

We found a tiny corner just behind the captain's boat and fell asleep for 1 hour before the ball dropped. We made an unplanned stop at a no name town again. This time about 20 bags of rice were loaded onto the main deck of out boat, each weighing a few hundred grams. They were heavy, bulky and kicking people out of their comfy sleeping positions. The next package came directly towards me and Queen: a man who broke something in his back was being piggy backed into out boat; possibly seeking medical care in the big city. We laid him out, flat on his back and the poor man was almost in tears. About 10 more people boarded our boat that time....we made another three stops with about 1 or 2 people leaving the boat while another 8-10 boarded....

I seriously considered how much weight the boat could have before sinking before realizing I know nothing about boats, and yet dutifully noted there was no raft or any life jacket in sight should something happen....shit! Queenie and I were bedless. We wandered through the boat looking for any space we could find. As we passed the engine we saw one of the boatmen collecting buckets of water from underneath the engine and throwing them out the window, trying to keep the engine from drowning I guess...great!

Anyways behind the engine we saw all the luggage. Move a backpack here, shove a suitcase there, and bam! Room to sit down, and lie down on all the comfy luggage should we dare....and we did! It was hot, the diesel engine was too loud to talk over (much less think over), and the smell coming from dirty backpacks (who have been god knows where) was almost unbearable. But it was all we had....for 5 more hours to go! Queenie, the brat slept through the whole damn experience! I hate her for that. Me on the other hand, I finished two of my books already, nearly finished a cross stitch of a little boy in a dragon suit (for Cooper's room!), and had meaningless conversations with a sexy Italian man.

I guess it wasn't too bad in the end :) I slept for about an hour, before I started gettin kicked around from people trying to step over me or sit next to me. I checked out the front of the boat and noticed there were at least 100 people on a boat meant for no more than 30 or 35 pax. It looked like a refugee boat: people were strewn over rice bags, sitting on top of one another, suffocating in the heat and dampness, and twisted into any position at the time that would seem comfortable. For a brief moment I thought, I spent $30 USD on this!!! But then...I took a deep breath, and thought yeah...I spent $30 on this once in a lifetime experience...and although miserable as I am right now, this is yet one more travel story to embrace in my old and wrinkly days.

Now we're settled in Luang Prabang. Beautiful town, gorgeousscenery, and quiet...god so quiet! Even the smallest of towns in Thailand don't compare to the stillness of Loas that I've seen so far. Laos is like an untouched paradise, and probably what Thailand looked like 15-20 years ago. The trip down the Mekong River (aside from the space issue) was phenomenal scenery: karts, mountain formation, beaches, and palmtrees, fishing men wearing traditional rice hats, and children playing in the river...it was something out of a picture book. Tonight I'm beddingdown, catching up on some sleep and then hitting the town tomorrow for a stress free day: where we do nothing but sleep in, eat, shop, drink, massage probably and just relax along the river. We might try to find a pub tonight, but the locals tell us bars are only open until 12pm. And in a society that forbids locals to interact with foreigners, something tells me the bar scene is going to be mostly Westerners. From what I understand, the locals today still live under a somewhat Soviet-era regime. If the party finds out you've been having any sort of relation with a local (male or female, sexual or friendly) they'll automatically arrest and jail you....sentence unknown. The locals also feel that they'll be investigated and interrogated if they interact too much with foreigners, since the party's trying to put a stop to the numbers of refugees fleeing into Thailand on a regular basis. Lay low, keep quiet, and stay out of trouble....that seems to be the Commie way so far....something I can adhere to quite easily. Like I said...quiet...which is exactly what I'm looking for these days :)