4th to 7th January South to Luang Prabang

After spending 6 days in Luang Nam Tha, Laos I have just spent the last few days on a spectacular if at times a little uncomfortable journey South to Luang Prabang.

The first day I took a 120km (4 hour) bus trip to Udomxai. A fantastic trip through the mountains of Northern Laos. The road is small and in very bad repair hence the time it takes to travel such a short distance. Every few hundred meters the road disappears and you are on an un-tarmaced stretch or there are large holes in the road which the bus has to navigate around. You would never believe this is the main highway south.

On the bus I met a Dutch guy who with his friend was on a cycle trip of the area. He was having a day off as he had had a bit of a stomach upset. His bike went on the roof of the bus. His friend was doing the 120km journey himself. The road was quiet and passed through some really fantastic scenery. Lots of small tribal villages built from wood and with thatched roofs and beautiful views of the mountains. Outside of the towns its like going back 200 years apart from the motorbikes and the odd satellite dish people seem to be living a very primitive life.

On the way we stopped at some road side stalls with sold various food stuffs. These included bat, roasted forest birds and most gruesomely roasted monkey, head and all. Oh I forgot to mention the rats, delicious I’m sure. I’ve been eating some kebabs from the night market in Luang Nam Tah. It never occurred to me to question what the meat was let’s hope not rat.

I spent the night in Udomxai a busy little village with more guest houses than tourists. The next day the weather was cold and misty in the morning again. Most days it has been like this until about 11am and then warm and sunny until sunset at 6pm. The nights have also been a bit cold.

I got the bus to Luang Prabang, a minibus with at least 4 too many people squeezed into it. I managed to get about two thirds of a seat with the edge digging into my bum. It’s a 5 hour trip to Luang Prabang. After 3 hours we stopped at a small village called Pakan*****. It looked interesting and there was a guest house so I decided to stop there for the day.

About 5min out of town there was a Humong Village and I took a bit of a wander through there, the locals were very friendly especially the children, shouting out Sabai-Dee (hello in Loa) at every opportunity. It was almost like going round some sort of real life museum exhibit the people live so privatively.

The next day I decide on another change of plan a and got a songtail ( small pickup truck covered and with two benches down the sides at the back) to a village called Nong Kiew. The Songtail was already full with locals when I got there. I managed to squeeze in and sit on a sack on the floor. It was a bit like one of those who many people you can squeeze into a mini tricks. After about an hour and managing to get another couple of people onto the back we got safely but sorely to Nong Kiew at 10:00.

Boats leave from Nong Kiew along the Nam Ou river both North and South to Luang Prabang ( 100,00 kip). I had planned to get one of these. I had expected to have to wait until the next day however one was due to leave a 11:00 and I managed to get a ticket. Nong Kiew is a spectacular little village in its self by the river and surrounded by mountains. It would be a good place to spend a day or two if it was warmer in the mornings.

The boat trip upriver from Luang Prabang is 9 hours and the down river trip is 6 hours. 12 of us got into a covered longtail boat and started a fantastic journey. By this time the sun had come out and the weather was perfect.

6 hour sailing down the Nam Ou river past small fishing villages in spectacular mountain scenery. Fishermen in there boats, kids waving from the banks, water buffalo and cattle wading in the water. At times the river got quite shallow and we had to pass trough some rapids here and there. At one stage we had to get out and walk a few hundred meters because the river was so low. About an hour from Luang Prabag the Nam Ou joins the Mekong river so I have had a little trip on the Mekong too. All in all it was a fantastic trip.

I’m now in Luang Prabang wich is a little bit of paradise, surrounded by the Mekong and Nam Xiang rivers and mountains. Luang Pradang is a world heritage site and you can see why, lots of old French colonial buildings and because of its world heritage status very well preserved. It has more than its fair share of tourists but you can still find a quiet spot to sit by the river and have a Beer Lao. (Especially the Dark Beer Lao). There are lots of Wats to visit including one on a hill in the centre of town. I went up there this evening and watched the sunset, with another 100 tourists of course but still stunning.

I think I’ll have spend the next couple of days here relaxing. It a bit more expensive than other parts of Loas for accommodation but there are lots of good cheep stalls to eat from, no rats. I found an excellent one tonight where you choose from a large selection of precooked vegetable dishes rice and noodles. Pile it up on your plate and then give it to a woman who heats it all up for you in a Wok. Only 5000 kip (25p) and another 9,000 kip for a big beer Lao.