Friday, July 30, 2010

Boom Pow Laos

This past weekend I had four days off, as did my fellow volunteers. Since we live NE Thailand, right across the river from Laos, we decided to hop the border for the weekend and explore a new country.

We headed north to the Thai city of Nong Khai to cross the border at the "Friendship Bridge" and spend our weekend in the Laos (pronounced Lao, the "s" is silent) capital of Vientiane. Though Vientiane is a capital city it still had a very relaxed and low key feeling. Laos was once a French protectorate so there is a notable french influence to the architecture, monuments and food. (There were baguettes and good coffee everywhere!) Laos is also a communist country, the first I have ever visited, so that added a fun new twist to our travel adventure.

Glimpses of Vientiane




We had a bit of a border crossing "issue" as we used a Visa agency instead of going straight to the border and had some money and much of our precious time ripped off. Lesson learned, never use a visa agency! Once we arrived in the city we wandered around a bit looking for a guest house that could accommodate us all while still maintaining our standards of cleanliness. We ended up in a great place that had recently opened and was in a central location near the river. We settled in and then ate dinner (tex-mex that was sadly disappointing, but what did I really expect?) and then headed to a local roof top bar for great views of the city and a taste of the national beer, Beer Lao.

We met some other travelers and when the bar closed for curfew at midnight they invited us to an after hours club. Needless to say we had a great time dancing the night away and the fact that we were breaking communist law only seemed to add to the fun that was had, even if it seemed all the Laotians were out too. (I think the curfew may be more of a suggestion than a law)

The next day we spent poking around the city and eating delicious, delicious meals. I finally was able to satisfy my sandwich craving!


My delicious "sammie" and adorable latte


That evening we headed to a bowling alley and had an amazing albeit hilarious time. The bowling alley looked just like any you would find in America except we were the only while people there and instead of nachos and pizza they served Laab and sticky rice. We had a great time knocking down some pins, though it seemed they gave us the bum lane as every few turns it broke down.

The next morning we woke up and thought, "Know what would be a good idea? Renting motorbikes and driving to the Buddhist sculpture park!". We looked in our guide book for a good place to rent bikes and tried to ignore the warnings about faulty bikes...it took us longer than expected to find some "hogs" but once we did we hit the open road for our 27km ride....half way into the ride it started pouring!! It was raining so hard it hurt and we could barely see so we pulled off the road and took shelter at a gas station.

Me and my hog, soaking wet


My bike gang

After the rain passed we got back on the bikes and continued on to the park. We wondered around for an hour or so just taking pictures and enjoying the art. The sculptures depicted images of Hindu lore, Buddha, demons, animals and many other things. They were both beautiful and bizarre at the same time.


aerial view of the park


sculptures


An adorable young family that asked me to take their photo

After the finishing we hopped back on the hogs to head back to town for some food. On the way back poor Trish got a flat tire! We had to locate a mechanic shop to get it fixed. After her tire was repaired we got back on the hogs and then disaster struck for me! My throttle wire got stuck pulled out and I could not control the speed of my bike...I had to turn the bike off to get it to stop and took a little tumble. Luckily I had a helmet on so I just got a little road rash on my leg and foot and a dose of embarrassment. Next time the guidebook recommends not renting bikes I will listen!

Sadly the next day it was time to leave. We booked bus tickets to Thakek, the Laos town directly across the river from Nakhon Phanom, and planned to take the ferry across the river back into Thailand. It all went fairly well until the bus suddenly stopped on the side of the road. Bus workers got out and started banging on the engine and sponging it down with water...we were broken down!! Eventually the workers gave up on fixing the bus and called for someone to bring them a part all the way from Vientiane. They spread out a mat on the ground and opened some bags of mints filled with chocolate to try and appease the passengers. We waited on the side of the road for two and half hours...when the part finally arrived they fixed the bus and we continued on.

Our Bus...King of Bus? I think not.

Trying to fix it

Just give up and eat some candy


We had been trying to make it to Thakek before 6pm when the boarder closed but the bus break down pushed us so far behind schedule that we didn't arrive until 9pm. We gazed across the river at the lights of NKP, so close yet so far and went to find a guest house. I woke up early the next morning and headed across the river to try and make it to school for my late morning and afternoon classes. Crossing the border by boat was quick and easy and the perfect end to my trip.

My boat across the river


My ride across the mighty Mekong

I have to say it was an amazing adventure but it feels good to me home and back at school. My students keep pointing at my "motorcycle battle wounds" and asking if they hurt. I have pantomimed what happened and pretty much all of them fell on the floor laughing. Many have even given me wound care tips and shown me their own scars from the similar accidents...a few even tried to pick my scabs...gotta love 'em. Can't wait to see what the next adventure holds.

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like it was quite an adventure...love the play by play with photos! Miss you and hope to catch up soon.

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  2. Also... I'm glad you know how to spell Vientiane because I definitely mis-spelled it on my blog. Oopsies... I guess I'll fix that now.

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  3. You sure are a lot braver than I would be! Great adventure, glad you made it back in one piece though. :)

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