Chasing the Mekong

We were in Laos for just 10 days, but it was a charming, easy going counter to the tough travelling of China. After our first stop in Luang Namtha, we headed south through the northern part of the country to the ancient capital of Luang Prabang, onto Vang Vieng, (the dramatically scenic centre for caving and rock climbing) and finally to Vientiane, which feels more like a sleepy county town than the capital of a country.

It feels barely credible at times that Laos even exists as a country. It is landlocked and surrounded by much larger neighbours (China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) and it's history has at times been like a game of pass the parcel with these aggressive neighbours. It's population is also a melting pot of various tribal groups, who have only recently forgotten their differences.

It's recent history has been tragic in many ways. In an admission that they couldn't stand up to their neighbours they called in the French, who were a little more benign as an occupying force and their influence is everywhere in the architecture and even in the large number of French tourists that we saw here. But their real problems started when they got sucked into the IndoChina war (after this trip, we will no longer refer to it as the Vietnam War). Officially they remained neutral, but inevitably there were sizeable groups in the country that supported the VietCong and as a result, the poor Lao were bombed more heavily than any other country.

Today they seem to be dominated by China, with the people heavily controlled by an authoritarian government. Many people we spoke to talked angrily of deals done with the Chinese government: for example long term mining rights sold in return for infrastructure projects, that are often just a road that leads from the mine to the Chinese border. But underneath the docile exterior, there does seem to be some deeper resolve and from what we saw, the people look healthy and happy with improving living conditions.

Luang Prabang was a cool spot to spend 3 nights, though we were amazed by the number of backpackers here. The centre of the town has been engulfed by bars, restaurants and shops aiming for this market. Laos is firmly on the south-east Asia backpacker trail now, and Luang Prabang seems to be the centre of it. The town has a very attractive natural setting, nestled into a broad curve in the Mekong river and around a steep hilltop, topped by a Buddhist shrine. The view from the top, particular when the sun sets over the river, is probably worth the trip on its own. Away from the backpacker centre, there are also some interesting complexes and the river banks are lined by small restaurants that serve Delicious Lao style curries and, much to Sue's delight, great French style coffee!

We had a decent hotel on the edge of the town, but to get into the centre, we had to navigate the most decrepit bridge (referred to as 'the communist era bridge' to differentiate it from the much more modern and solid 'capitalist era bridge' further up stream!) that crossed high over the Mekong. Pedestrians were divided from the traffic, but the whole structure shook when anything bigger than a motorbike crossed. Underfoot, the old planks creaked and we could see the water swirling through the gaps, as if waiting for a false step. Coming back over the unlit bridge at night after a couple of drinks was certainly an interesting experience!

The 'communist era bridge' over the Mekong

Small ferry boats wind their way up and down the Mekong at Luang Prabang

A Buddhist temple in Luang Prabang

A

The view down the river to our bridge

As we approached Vang Viang, the scenery became more rugged, with limestone karsts soaring vertically out of the rain forest. It used to be the big backpacker party town of Laos, where drugs and strong alcohol combined with big outdoor raves, zip wiring across the river and 'tubing'. Tubing involves riding the rapids on a tractor inner tube, which probably isn't good when combined with a cocktails of drugs and alcohol. At one point more than 20 backpackers died in accidents in less than a year apparently and under pressure from the Australian government, the practice was heavily regulated.

From our group Ralph and I went for the tubing, but far from a white knuckle ride, it turned out be a serene 90 minute float down the river, admiring the mountains and the lush rainforest, with the main excitement being the multi-coloured dragonflies that buzzed around us like helicopter gunships.

Our final stop in Laos was in the capital Vientiane. It summed up the country, that it has the most low key capital that we have ever visited, sitting quietly on the Mekong, with Thailand looming on the other side. There was not a whole lot to see here, but we passed a day ambling along the river in fierce heat, before taking to the solace of an air conditioned coffee bar to read and write and catch up with some admin.

By this time, we had decided to cheat by 'jumping truck' for a few days and taking a flight from Vientiane to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Sue, in particular, was pretty exhausted by the long days on the truck and a couple of hours on a plane saved us 3 days and 24 hours of driving, plus 2 land border crossings. It also meant we would get 5 nights in Siem Reap: with the lure of Angkor Watt and a hotel with a swimming pool!

We will tell you more about how we got on in Cambodia on our next post...

Riding the river at Vang Viang

The finish line for the tubing at Vang Viang

The presidential palace in Vientiane

And finally...service postponed until further notice